Yerevan in talks with Moscow on new loan to buy Russian weapons – Armenian finance minister

ITAR-TASS, Russia
July 19, 2017 Wednesday 9:53 PM GMT


Yerevan in talks with Moscow on new loan to buy Russian weapons -
Armenian finance minister

YEREVAN July 19

Armenia is in talks with Russia on a new loan to buy Russian-made
weapons, Armenian Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan said on Wednesday.



YEREVAN, July 19. /TASS/. Armenia is in talks with Russia on a new
loan to buy Russian-made weapons, Armenian Finance Minister Vardan
Aramyan said on Wednesday.

"Discussion of the issue of a new defense-related loan started with
Russia this year and will go along for quite a time," he said, adding
that the two countries had earlier reached a top-level agreement on
buying Russian-made defense-related products at Russia’s domestic
prices. "As a strategic partner, Russia agreed. Negotiations are now
underway," he noted.

According to the Armenian finance minister, his country is having such
talks only with Russia from among other countries of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). "We are also discussing how to
avoid problems linked with the loan repayment," Aramyan said.

In his words, Armenia has not yet completely used the first export
loan of 200 million U.S. dollars meant to buy Russia-made
defense-related products. "We have 30 million U.S. dollars left," he
said.

The two countries signed an agreement on that loan on June 25, 2015.
It came into effect on February 10, 2016.