Pan Armenian News

KARABAKH CONFLICT HAS NEGATIVE IMPACT ON ARMENIA-RUSSIA TRADE RELATIONS

15.09.2005 04:57

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Within the framework of Armenia EXPO 2005 forum the
official opening of Armenian-Russian Cooperation 2005 business meeting took
place September 15. As President of the Union of Industrialists,
Entrepreneurs (Employers) of Armenia Arsen Ghazaryan stated in the course of
the opening ceremony, the business forum will be composed of 2 parts:
official opening and 2 round tables. In his words, in the course of the
forum issues referring to restoration of previous contacts between Armenia
and Russia will be discussed. As A. Ghazaryan noted, the Armenian-Russian
economic cooperation experiences some cooling at present due to blockade of
the Armenian borders and frequently passive behavior of entrepreneurs
themselves. However, the Armenian export to Russia has increased and the
total commodity turnover between the two countries increased 20-25% past
year, he noted. In his words the indicators will be maintained in 2005 and
2006 and increased if possible. In his words head of the Armenian MFA
Department of CIS Countries Vardan Hakobyan said that the MFA will make
every effort to provide for normal functioning of business relations between
the two countries. In the opinion of many Russian regional representatives,
absence of direct communications and the Nagorno Karabakh conflict have a
negative impact on the Armenian-Russian trade relations. As First Secretary
of the Russian Embassy in Armenia Andrey Mokrousov stated, the Embassy makes
every effort to develop cooperation of Russian and Armenian regions, and the
holding of events like the Cooperation 2005 business meeting contributes to
it. It the course of her speech Deputy Chairman of the Committee on
Enterprise Promotion of Moscow District Lyudmila Molchanova indicated
disturbance of economic ties between Moscow and Armenia, conditioned by the
NK conflict not settled state, non-functioning of the Abkhazian part of the
railway and the transport blockade of Armenia among other causes. In her
words a Moscow governmental delegation will arrive in Armenia soon. It
should be noted that individual business meetings will be held within
Cooperation 2005 and business contracts will be signed resulting from these.