Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Armenian counterpart Tigran Sargsyan made statements for the press
Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, friends and colleagues.
I would like to greet our Armenian friends and colleagues once again. This is the first visit by Tigran Sargsyan as Prime Minister. We welcome him.
Before sharing my opinion with you on the talks we had, I would like to speak about one important subject.
The day after tomorrow, December 7, we will observe a mournful date - 20 years since the devastating earthquake of 1988. This dreadful disaster was a tragedy for all peoples in the U.S.S.R.
We are mourning the tens of thousands of people who perished during those painful days. We remember the heroic exploits and selfless work of volunteers from all Soviet regions who came to Armenia's rescue. The day after tomorrow, a monument devoted to the earthquake's victims and rescue teams' exploits will be unveiled in Gyumri, former Leninakan.
The monument was built on the initiative of the Russian public and on voluntary donations. This is evidence of the durable friendship between the Russian and Armenian people.
Today, we discussed all aspects of our cooperation in all areas. Naturally, we focused on economic cooperation.
This year, experts have registered dynamic development of bilateral trade and economic contacts. Trade is steadily going up; this year, it has increased by almost 17%.
Russian investments are promoting the Armenian economic upsurge. They have already exceeded $1.6 billion.
We consider the expansion of big Russian companies like Gazprom, INTER RAO UES, Russian Railways, and some banks, the VTB Bank, for instance, in Armenia to be quite useful.
We have good prospects for joint projects in the fuel and energy sector, non-ferrous metallurgy, transportation, construction, banking, and information technologies.
The Russian-Armenian Intergovernmental Commission is working to further promote bilateral economic contacts. During the talks, we expressed satisfaction with its performance.
At the same time, we understand quite well that the achieved results are far from reaching the limits of our potentialities, and will continue to further develop our cooperation.
We have exchanged opinions on joint steps in trade and the economy, and talked about the problems linked with the global financial crisis, issues that affect our two countries in various ways.
In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that the Russian side is satisfied with the course of today's talks. They are not over yet. At this time, Mr Prime Minister and I will have an extended meeting with a number of Russian colleagues. We will talk about some aspects of our cooperation in more detail.
Thank you for your attention.
Tigran Sargsyan: Good afternoon, Mr Putin and other colleagues.
First of all, I would like to express my condolences in connection with the death of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, Alexy II. This is sad news not only for Russians, but also for Armenians. We have always had warm feelings for the Patriarch, and were aware of his attention. During his patriarchate, the Russian Orthodox Church developed very warm relations with the Armenian Apostolic Church. I'm confident that all Armenians are mourning the Patriarch's death together with the Russian people.
I'd like to thank Mr. Putin for finding time for negotiations despite such a sad event.
Our relations boil down to a strategic partnership. Obviously, now that the global economy is going through the financial and economic crisis, consultations and meetings are very important for our country, because we need to coordinate our actions. In this case, it will be easier for us to overcome the current economic hardships.
As Mr Putin noted, our economic relations are developing dynamically. We highly appreciate the performance of the Intergovernmental Commission. From this perspective, this has been a rather successful year for our cooperation. All energy and infrastructure projects have made steady headway. This year is special because our economic contacts and partnership have expanded substantially, going beyond such traditional spheres as energy and infrastructure. There is not a single sphere of human endeavor where we do not have joint projects.
Today, more than a thousand Russian companies are actively expanding their operation in Armenia, and our goal is to create favourable conditions for their effective work. On the whole, we are satisfied with our economic relations, and hope that new agreements will help us overcome the current economic hardships.
Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: Many thanks.
