RUSSIAN INVESTMENTS IN ARMENIA EXCEED 1.2 BILLION DOLLAR MARK

NOYAN TAPAN

JU NE 25

The meeting of the Armenian president Serge Sargsian and the
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin on June 24, which
was concluded by the signing of a joint statement, was followed by
Armenian-Russian negotiations in an extended staff, NT was informed
by the press service of the Armenian president.

Suggesting to focus on the trade and economic relations, D. Medvedev
said: "Progress in this regard is quite good: the growth in commodity
turnover is considerable, progress by two-thirds has been made in
recent period. This figure is approaching one billion dollars, and
it is a good result. The amount of mutual investments is increasing
too. In particular, Russian investments exceeded the 1.2 billion dollar
mark. This is an essential milestone in our relations and a very good
basis for further development of our trade and economic cooperation".

Agreeing that Russian investments have reached a high level in
Armenia and the bilateral trade and economic turnover is growing,
Serge Sargsian at the same time said: "Our goal is that in 12 or
18 months we will measure these indices in billions rather than
in several hundred millions". He also attached great importance to
development of cooperation in the humanitarian sphere.

The extended-staff negotiations were followed by a meeting of the
heads of the two countries with journalists.