ArmInfo. A business mission from Russia is planned to visit Armenia in autumn with an eye to establishing contacts and forming joint projects in various fields.
We are talking not only about interest in such areas as agriculture, food industry, energy, but also in a number of interesting projects that are being worked out in the field of high technologies and IT. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin announced this in an interview with the Public Television. At the same time, he noted that economic and investment relations between the countries have a solid foundation. In this context, Kopyrkin stressed that the war and the current situation did not have a tangible impact on Russia's interest in Armenia, and the volume of cooperation. "Gazprom, the Tashir group, South Caucasus Railways work here, as well as nuclear scientists within the framework of the project to extend the life of the Metsamor NPP. I call only the largest companies that relate to the strategic aspects of our cooperation and the life of Armenia, "he noted. Speaking about specific examples of Russian investments, the Ambassador recalled the supply of new SCR passenger cars, which now run on the Yerevan-Batumi line, and soon will run on Yerevan-Tbilisi route. At the same time, he said that a program of almost complete replacement of the rolling stock of the South Caucasus Railway is being implemented.
"If we talk about the basis of our cooperation, the interest of the Russian side, then there are all the prerequisites for all these positions to remain, which does not prevent Armenia from developing investment cooperation with other countries and regions," the diplomat added.
To note, according to the Statistical Committee, the foreign trade turnover between Armenia and Russia in January- May 2021 increased by 11.9%, amounting to $ 879.8 million. At the same time, exports provided a volume of $ 288.7 million, with an increase of 31.4% over the year and imports - by 4.3% to $ 591.1 million. According to statistics, the primacy in the volume of foreign investments in January-December 2020 remains with Russia, and both in terms of the total volume of investments - $ 674.4 million (with a reversal of the annual dynamics from 4.3% growth to 34% decline), and FDI volume - $ 350.2 million (accelerating the annual decline from 7.6% to 9.3%).