"What has been foreseen for 2017 has been practically implemented," said Karen Karapetyan, the RA Prime Minister, at the 18th session of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation.

"We have growth in all indicators. In a private conversation with Maxim Sokolov we outlined all the possible development points and ways of diversifying our relations. According to our data, the Armenian-Russian trade turnover increased by 26.1% in 2017, exports to Armenia by 44.6% and imports by 19.1%, "Karen Karapetyan said.

Referring to the economic indices of Armenia, the Prime Minister underlined that in 2017 the economic activity grew by 7.7%, foreign trade turnover - 26.9%, export - 25.2%, import - 27.8%, service growth made 14.4% , industrial growth - 12.6 %, inflation - 2.6 %.

"In January 2018, growth of economic activity was 10.2%, growth of industry - 13.9%, construction growth - 19.7%, foreign trade turnover - 47.6%, export growth - 45.2%, import growth - 48.9%, service growth - 15.5%. We are on the good development trend and are interested in our Russian friends and partners to participate in it, "the head of government noted, stressing that the intergovernmental commission is one of the most important platforms for the Armenian-Russian bilateral cooperation.

The prime minister informed that with the Minister of Transport of Russia Maxim Sokolov they agreed to set specific directions for the promotion of programs.

"Today Armenia, being a small market, can attract our partners, investors, with the fact that it is a member of the EEU, has privileged entries into the 180 million Eurasian market. An important topic of the discussion was the Free Economic Zone of Meghri in the context of the Free Trade Agreement with EEAU and Iran. I think this platform will be very special, "said Karen Karapetyan, stressing the importance of entering the Russian capital into a free economic zone.

Russian Transport Minister, co-chair of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation between Armenia and Russia Maxim Sokolov thanked Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan for the constructive assessment given to the work done within the intergovernmental commission.

He noted that after the last session in July 2016 there were numerous meetings both in bilateral format and between the members of the intergovernmental commission and between the two countries' departments.

"Our cooperation has always been at a high level and we can say that now it has reached a new level, and it is also reflected in the economic outcomes. Absolutely speaking, the bilateral commodity turnover has reached a record high of $ 1 billion 700 million during the history of our cooperation. It is gratifying that the volume of supply of Armenian products to the Russian market is also growing at a great pace. According to our estimates, over the past year it has grown by more than one third - compared to 2016. We link this not only to the sustainable development of Russian and Armenian economies, but also to the integration within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, "Maxim Sokolov underscored.

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