Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had August 25 a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustun in the Kyrgyz city of Cholpon-Ata on the sidelines of a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, the press service of the Armenian government reported.
"Together with our Armenian colleagues, we take prompt decisions aimed at protecting our trade and economic cooperation, including in the conditions of illegal sanctions against Russia. We have concrete results: in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year, our mutual trade turnover increased by 42%. In absolute terms, it reached 1 billion 600 million US dollars. By the way, it is a record figure in our mutual trade turnover. As for Russian capital investment in Armenia, it stands now at $2 billion," said the head of the Russian government.
Mishustin noted the intention to speed up work on priority projects in transport, industry and energy, pointing to the importance of creating comfortable conditions for business activities to effectively use the opportunities of small and medium businesses.
"By the way, Armenia does it very effectively in the case of Russian companies, I also hope that Russia will do the same with regard to Armenian companies. In this regard, the event to be held in Armenia in September with the participation of Russian companies will be a good platform. The delegation will be headed by Deputy Chairman of Russian Government Alexey Overchuk," he said.
According to the Russian Prime Minister, an active work is underway to expand the use of national currencies in bilateral trade.
"I am sure that it will contribute to the growth of our trade turnover, as well as its diversification, which is very important. We give priority attention to the unblocking of economic and transport infrastructures in the South Caucasus, according to the agreement of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan," Mishustin said, expressing confidence that through joint efforts it will be able to ensure the stability of the economies of the EEU countries and improve the living standards of citizens.
In turn, Pashinyan noted that the figures voiced by Mishustin are quite concrete results of joint efforts. The Armenian Prime Minister described the ongoing political dialogue between Armenia and Russia as effective. "I am confident that despite all the difficulties, together we will overcome situations that create problems for our economies and cooperation," he said.
Russia is Armenia's largest foreign trade partner. According to the Armenian National Statistical Committee, the trade between the two countries in the first half of 2022 amounted to about $1.7 billion, an increase of 50.1% compared to the same period of last year. Exports from Armenia to Russia amounted to about $543 million, 48.4% growth, and the imports to over $1.1 billion, 41.7% growth, ARKA reports.
