Monday, 2 March 2009
On February 27, 2009, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan left for Moscow on a one-day working visit to discuss an Armenia-Russia economic cooperation-related agenda. First, the Prime Minister met with RF Central Bank Chairman Sergey Ignatyev. The parties looked at the steps taken by the Central Bank of Russia towards the maintenance of financial stability and exchanged views on those actions underway in both countries to mitigate the negative impact of the global financial crisis. A key item on the meeting agenda was the crediting of Armenian real sector enterprises on the part of the Interstate Bank.
During a private meeting, co-chairmen of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation Tigran Sargsyan and Igor Levitin spoke about the traditional spheres of bilateral cooperation. In particular, they addressed the steps underway in the energy and transport sectors along with their timings and related problems.
At the Armenian Embassy in Moscow, the Prime Minister met with the representatives of business circles. Tigran Sargsyan delivered a keynote speech entitled “Armenia: the strategy of the future.” Both the theses and ideas reflected in the speech were given a favorable consideration on the part of those present. Russian scientist Vorontsov who had closely cooperated with Armenian engineers on road building projects in Yerevan, noted: “While I am Russian, but I am a citizen of the Armenian world.” The businessmen proved to be interested in a broad range of questions concerning different spheres of economy – energy sector reforms, infrastructure development, small and medium-size enterprise support, incentives for the real sector and development of tourism in the Armenian world. Tigran Sargsyan suggested cooperating closely with the Business Support Council of Armenia, The Project Implementation Agency, the Operative Headquarters and the Armenian Development Agency.
During the meeting with the head of RF Government, the parties said to be pleased with the current dynamics of bilateral trade and discussed questions of mutual interest. Vladimir Putin said that despite the negative impact of the global financial and economic crisis, commodity circulation between two countries has grown by 10 % to USD 900 million. He further advised that during a recent meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Davos, he had the opportunity of presenting his government’s economic assistance programs for Armenia. Said assistance will shortly be translated into a stabilization credit to the amount of USD 500 million available to Armenia. Tigran Sargsyan invited his Russian counterpart to visit Armenia at his convenience. In accepting the invitation, Vladimir Putin informed that the two vice-premiers of Russia, inclusive of Minister of Regional Development Dmitry Kozak, will soon come to Armenia to discuss transition to a new stage of economic cooperation.
