OREANDA-NEWS. February 7, 2008. During the private talks held with the head of Russia's government in anticipation of an extended meeting, Serzh Sargsyan said to have kept warm memories of their Moscow meeting of last September. He expressed confidence that Mr. Zubkov's present visit will help boost the bilateral relations and further strengthen the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. Victor Zubkov conveyed greetings on behalf of the President of Russian Federation and thanked Serzh Sargsyan for the invitation and a warm welcome.

During the extended meeting, which followed the prime ministers' private talks and was attended by delegations representing the two governments, a broad range of issues covering different areas of bilateral cooperation have been discussed.

Pleased with the pace of bilateral cooperation and the dynamics of interaction between Armenia and Russia, Serzh Sargsyan and Victor Zubkov stressed that this was promoted by both friendly and business-like relations entertained by the two Presidents. The interlocutors singled out the achievements made in the economic field in terms of increased trade turnover and growth of Russian investments into the economy of Armenia. At the same time, they noted that the economic cooperation had an important development potential. According to the Armenian Prime Minister, the high level of political dialog between the two countries called for greater efforts in the economic field. In this context, the efficiency of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission has been emphasized on either side. It was reported that as recently as on January 21, the co-chairs of said commission came together to examine the status of the decisions passed at the 9th session. By virtue of these decisions, commodity turnover between Armenia and Russia grew by about 65% to USD 700 million in January-November, 2007, as compared to the same period of 2006. The head of the government of Russia expressed confidence that this figure could be taken to USD 1 billion in the near future. Russian co-chair of the intergovernmental commission Igor Levitin stated that Armenia offered favorable legislative environment for doing business in the country due to which Russian equity was sufficiently active on the Armenian market. It was mentioned that in the period between January-October 2007, Russian investments into Armenia's economy rose to USD 175.9 million, of which USD 101.6 million constituted direct investment. Inter-bank cooperation has been active, too: “Bank VTB (Armenia)” CJSC is financing a number of major investment projects, “VTB-Leasing Armenia” is starting operations early this year, Gazprombank has acquired 80.1% stake in Hayeximbank and intends to fund the projects carried out by Gazprom in Armenia, as well as to provide lending for large corporative clients. RAO EES, “Armenal” and other Russian companies are engaged in successful activities in Armenia.

Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan stressed the need in expediting the process of commissioning the industrial and scientific enterprises handed over to Russia under the Property for Debt program.

Considering that Winter Olympic Games are going to be held in Sochi involving large-scale building activities, Victor Zubkov agreed with his Armenian counterpart that this is susceptible to give a strong impetus to the export of Armenian building materials.

The parties have agreed that ensuring proper transport communications between the two countries is crucial to the furtherance of economic interaction. They expressed confidence that the transfer of the Armenian railways system to Russian Railways OJSC for trust management will help develop transport communications to the benefit of the existing potential. Both sides said to be satisfied at the current level of military-technical cooperation. Extensively developing ties have been reported in the energy sector, inclusive of nuclear energy. The legislative framework applicable between the two countries has been constantly improving. Several key arrangements have been brought into effect. Work is underway at the intergovernmental level towards the preparation of a number of other documents. Cooperation in the humanitarian field is developing successfully.

Readiness was expressed on either side to henceforth expand and deepen the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

At the close of the meeting, the two sides stated the constructive character of these discussions and expressed confidence that the meeting would be a step forward on the way to strengthening the cooperation between Armenia and Russia.

The meeting was followed by a document signing ceremony. RA Minister of Transport and Communications Andranik Manukyan and RF Minister of Information Technologies and Communications Leonid Reiman signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of information technologies and postal-telegraphic services between RA Ministry of Transport and Communications and RF Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications. RA Minister of Trade and Economic Development Nercess Yeritzyan and RF Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Anna Popova signed a protocol on amendments to the free trade agreement, which was concluded on September 30, 1992 between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Government of the Russian Federation. A memorandum of understanding was signed between RA Minister of Nature Protection Aram Harutiunyan and Director-General of “Rosatom” State Atomic Energy Agency Sergey Kirienko. RA Minister of Transport and Communications Andranik Manukyan and President of Russian Railways OJSC Vladimir Yakunin signed a protocol on harmonization of draft agreement on transfer of Armenia's railway system to South Caucasian Railway CJSC for concession. RA Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Gegham Gharibjanyan and RF Deputy Ministry for Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin exchanged notes on Armenia's accession to the agreement on establishment of an international center for uranium enrichment between the governments of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan. Also, a joint statement was signed between the governments of the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation on joint measures to enhance the safety and reliability of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant.

The document signing ceremony was followed by the joint press conference of RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and RF Head of Government Victor Zubkov.