Armenian President assesses Armenian-Russian relations as a constant

ArmInfo. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian assesses Armenian-Russian relations as a constant.

So, speaking in an interview with the "Zvezda" TV channel, speaking  about the Armenian-Russian relations, he said in particular: "I  estimated, estimate and will estimate them as a constant in the  future.  They are permanent; they never change, because we are  historically brothers and friends "Friends in Arms, Friends in  Destiny, Friends in Religion. I rate them as a constant value that  cannot change over time. It is part of our entire culture, history,  philosophy, past, present and future."

Answering a question about the readiness of Russian business to  invest in Armenia, Sarkissian assured that it was not for him to  express the opinion of Russian business. "What I can comment on is  that Russian business has been operating in Armenia for many years.   And it works fundamentally. There are investments from different  countries, there are investments from Europe, and from the Far East,  and from the Middle East, and from America. But Russian business has  always existed, and in a sense, we very often did not notice or could  not endure these investments, as if they were internal. Moreover, not  only purely Russian companies, but also Russian companies, where  Armenians participate by nationality, have invested in Armenia. These  investments are very large, I think that in the future there will be  a lot of them, "said the Armenian President.

Referring to the visit in the near future to Moscow, Sarkissian noted  that in the near future he does not plan to visit the Russian capital  with an official visit, although he often happens there.  

It should be noted that Russia occupies a leading position in the  statistics of foreign trade turnover, as well as of general and  direct investments in Armenia.

Thus, according to the National Statistics Committee, in 2018 foreign  trade turnover between Armenia and Russia amounted to $ 1.9 billion  with y-o-y growth of 11.2%. At the same time, exports amounted to $  666.5 million with an increase of 19.6%, and imports - $ 1.3 billion  with y-o-y growth of 7.2%.

According to the same commission, in 2018, total Russian investments  in the Armenian economy amounted to $ 970 million, with y-o-y growth  of 23.5%, while FDI amounted to $ 417.8 million with y-o-y growth of  31.7%.