Measures being taken to restore Armenian-Russian trade - Lavrov
YEREVAN, May 6. /ARKA/. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian-Armenian trade slashed last year by 9.6% to $2.3 billion, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday during a joint press conference in Yerevan with his Armenian counterpart Ara Ayvazyan.
“When we get out of the pandemic, we expect the bilateral trade to start increasing at a rapid pace,” he said.
Lavrov added that Russia remains Armenia's leading business partner and investor. "We expect that the recurrent meeting of the Armenian-Russian commission on economic relations slated later for this year will give a fresh push to our economic ties," the Russian minister said.
Lavrov spoke also about the reopening of transport links between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which stems from the trilateral statement (signed last November by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia to end the war in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone), saying it will greatly benefit the region and create the conditions necessary for normalizing the general situation and establishing creative cooperation in the post-conflict period.
“When the agreements are reached, they will significantly help to increase the volume of the Russian-Armenian trade and, in general, the interaction between Armenia and its neighbors,” Lavrov said.
In turn, Ayvazyan confirmed that there is a mutual desire between Russia and Armenia to reduce the sharp decline in bilateral trade.
“The opening of regional communications will lead to the opening of new prospects for diversification of transport and economic potentials not only for Armenia, but for the entire region,” he added.
Also, according to him, that will create new opportunities to establish a new logistic connection between Armenia and Russia.
On January 11, 2021, the Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement in Moscow aimed at developing the region and unblocking communications. To implement these plans, a tripartite working group was set up chaired by the deputy prime ministers of the three countries. --0--
