The Armenian-Russian forum on inter-regional cooperation has opened in Yerevan. The first plenary session opened with the participation of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and the head of the Russian presidential administration Sergey Naryshkin.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent a letter to the forum, read out by Naryshkin. Russia and Armenia have common goals, including modernization and development of their national economies, improvement of living standards and promotion of integration processes on CIS territory. Solutions formed at the forum will contribute to realization of inter-regional cooperation and business and humanitarian projects, the letter reads.
The inter-regional forum is held at the sports and concert hall of Karen Demirchyan in Yerevan. The sides plan the signing of inter-governmental and inter-regional deals, import-export contracts and agreements on opening new enterprises. One of the main documents is the memorandum on the South Caucasus Railway and the government of Armenia, on construction of a 32-km road section of Vanadzor-Fioletovo.
One of the main events of the forum is the handing over of the first Sukhoi Superjet 100 to Armavia at Zvartnots airport in Yerevan. Another event is the opening of a Center for Diagnostics of Infrastructure on the South Caucasus Railway in Yerevan and a memorial complex in Armenia to Russian soldiers who died in the Battle of Oshakan on August 17, 1827, near Echmiadzin (Russian-Persian war 1826-1828).
The forum was organized by Rossotrudnichestvo (Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation) and the fund for development of the “Institute of Eurasian Studies”, supported by the administrations of the Russian and Armenian presidents.
