ArmInfo. At the end of 2022, the Russian Export Center (REC) supported the supply of Russian non-commodity exports to Armenia in the amount of $94 million, non- financial support amounted to $6 million, financial support - $20 million, Vigen Yenokyan, representative of the REC in Armenia, said in his speech at a "Digital transformation of industrial enterprises: new business models and technologies" strategic session.
At the same time, he stressed that quite comfortable conditions have been created in Armenia for Russian companies. <In turn, we help our exporters in finding bona fide partners in Armenia, introduce the business of our countries, offer our entire arsenal of credit-guarantee and insurance products for joint projects, and in this regard we see great interest, both from Russian companies and from Armenian partners>, Yenokyan noted.
The REC representative also spoke about two landmark projects that have been implemented in such a short period of time - in particular, the launch of the Fine Oil refinery in December 2022 and the signing of an agreement between the Yerevan Municipality and the Russian Design Institute, which is completing the design of a new metro station in the capital.
He stressed that the opening of the REC office in Armenia (in May 2022 - ed. note) marked a new stage in the development of Armenian-Russian relations. <The current geo-economic situation creates opportunities to search for new points of growth. We began to support the export of not only Russian products and technologies, but also help companies from Armenia. They practically began to perform the functions of supporting economic cooperation in both directions. We are ready to continue to use all available tools to establish effective interaction between our manufacturers and potential partners in Armenia>, Yenokyan noted.
It should be noted that the "Russian Export Center" JSC (REC) is a state institution for supporting non- commodity exports (part of the VEB.RF Group), consolidating a group of companies that provide Russian exporters with a wide range of financial and non-financial support measures.
According to REC data, in 2022, Russian citizens opened 7,328 companies in Armenia, of which 5,000 are individual entrepreneurs, and 2,300 are LLCs.
Earlier the Minister of Economy of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan said that according to the latest data, 110 thousand foreign citizens moved to Armenia in 2022, of which about 60 thousand are of Armenian origin. Basically, according to him, these are citizens of the Russian Federation, but there are also immigrants from Ukraine and Belarus. The minister noted that the first wave of relocation was represented by the business segment (mainly the IT sector - ed. note), which are either branches or subsidiaries of Western companies, or are closely connected with the Western market.
