The first Armenian-Russian Interregional Cooperation Forum, which brought together about 300 representatives from 17 regions of Russia, has ended in Armenia.
Participants at the forum signed a series of documents on interregional cooperation, an agreement on academic cooperation between Yerevan State Economic University and the St. Petersburg University of Economics and Finance and a program for joint actions between the Federal Agency for Tourism and the Ministry of Economy of Armenia until 2013.
Economic cooperation is considered to be the most important element of Armenian-Russian relations, along with military and political cooperation. Russia is the main foreign trade partner of Armenia. In 2010, growth in the trade turnover between the countries amounted to approximately 20%. Since the beginning of 1991, more than 60% of all foreign investment in the Armenian economy is of Russian origin.
Some observers believe that Russia has not fulfilled its obligations under the intergovernmental agreement “Property for Debt”. Several companies which were given to Russia in 2002 to account for the 108 million debt for nuclear fuel supplies for the Armenian nuclear power plant, have not yet been launched. At the same time, 82% of the energy industry is in the hands of Russian state-owned companies.
Experts believe that growing interest in the Armenian economy from the West will force Russia to develop new economic strategies of cooperation with Armenia, which will be more beneficial for the Armenian side.
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for VK