RA Prime Minister: In 2017, the trade turnover between Armenia and Russian grew by 26.1%

ArmInfo. In 2017 the trade  turnover between Armenia and Russian grew by 26.1%. Such data was  announced by the co-chairman of the commission from the Armenian  side, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, on February 20 in Yerevan at  the 18th meeting of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission  on economic cooperation.

According to the press service of the Armenian government, the export  of Armenian goods to Russia grew by 44.6%, while imports of Russian  goods - by 19.1%. Virtually everything that was planned for for 2017  has been implemented. "The growth in all indicators was registered  with the Russian co-chairman of the commission, the Minister of  Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov outlined all  possible directions for further development and ways of diversifying  cooperation," the RA Prime Minister stressed.  He added that in 2017  economic activity in Armenia increased by 7.7%, external trade by  26.9%, exports - by 25.2%, imports - by 27.8%. The growth in services  was 14.4%, in industry - 12.6%, inflation was at the level of 2.6%.

"In January 2018, compared with the same period last year, economic  activity in Armenia increased by 10.2%, in industry growth was 13.9%,  in construction - 19.7%, external trade turnover grew by 47.6% ,  export growth - 45.25, imports - 48.9%, in the service sector - 15.5%  .We are in a good trend and are interested in maximizing the  participation of our Russian friends and partners in it," the RA  Prime Minister said.  He stressed that the Armenian-Russian  intergovernmental commission is the most important platform for  bilateral cooperation. Karen Karapetyan informed that an agreement  was reached with Maxim Sokolov on the promotion of specific programs  in various areas. "Today Armenia, being a small market, can become  attractive for our partners to invest, because, on the one hand, it  is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, on the other hand, it has  a preferential regime with a 180 million European market." An  important topic of the talks was the issue of free economic zone in  Meghri in the context of the expected signing of the agreement on  free trade of the EAEU with Iran, and this site can become  exceptional," Karen Karapetyan said. According to the Prime Minister,  within the framework of public-private partnership, the construction  sector, in particular, road construction, construction of reservoirs  and other areas, may become a promising area for cooperation. Karen  Karapetyan noted that he sees great potential in implementing  programs from the Russian-Armenian investment fund in terms of import  substitution in the Russian Federation and leasing of agricultural  machinery.

"Taking into account also the availability of the GSP + preferential  regimes with the European Union, GSP with the USA, Japan,  Switzerland, Norway, we are ready to create favorable conditions for  Russian capital so that the latter, based on their interest, expand  their activities in Armenia," Karapetyan said. 

The Russian co-chairman of the commission, Transport Minister Maxim  Sokolov, expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister of Armenia for  constructive assessments. He stressed that after the last meeting of  the commission in July 2016, numerous meetings were held, both in a  bilateral format, and between members of the commission and  departments of the two countries. "Our interaction has always been at  the highest level, and we can say that at present it has reached a  certain level, which is fixed in economic terms." Speaking  exclusively in figures, bilateral trade reached a record level in our  relations, reaching $ 1,7 billion is pleased with the fact that the  products produced in Armenia are being exported to Russia in large  increments, according to our estimates, the volumes of its exports  increased by more than a third in 2017 compared to 2016. We connect  this with the stable economic development of Armenia and Russia, but  also with the deepening integration processes within the Eurasian  Economic Union", said the Russian minister.  He added that with  accession to the EAEU, Armenia had the opportunity to enter the 180  millionth market, within which free movement of goods and services,  the lack of customs control, the application of uniform sanitary,  phytosanitary and veterinary rules were guaranteed. "All this creates  conditions for Armenia to increase investment flows, and we see the  interest of Russian capital. Today's partners are our partners who  plan to develop their programs in road construction, public-private  partnership programs, and in the sphere of information technologies,  in all spheres of our cooperation, including, of course, we see great  potential in these areas," said Maxim Sokolov.