VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Political Relations
Russia and Armenia established diplomatic relations on April 3, 1992. The contractual basis of their relations encompasses more than 160 inter-governmental and inter-departmental treaties and agreements, including the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance of August 29, 1997. The two countries signed a Declaration on Allied Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia Directed toward the Twenty-First Century on September 26, 2000.
Russia and Armenia maintain an intensive political dialogue at the highest levels. The two countries' leaders met during Serzh Sargsyan's working visits to Moscow on April 23 and October 12, 2009, on January 18 and April 20, 2010, and also on the sidelines of international events. On August 19 and 20, 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev paid an official visit to Armenia.
During his working visit to Russia on November 16 to 18, 2010, President Sargsyan met with President Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Also, on January 29, 2009, Putin and Sargsyan held talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos. On December 5, 2008, Putin held negotiations with his Armenian counterpart Tigran Sarkisyan, who came to Russia on a working visit. And on February 27, 2009, the two prime ministers met during Sarkisyan's working visit to Moscow as a co-chair of the bilateral Inter-Governmental Commission on Economic Cooperation.
The two countries maintain regular contacts at governmental, departmental and regional levels. There are Russian-Armenian inter-governmental commissions on economic, military and technical cooperation, an Inter-Parliamentary Commission on Cooperation and some other bilateral bodies established to promote cooperation between the two countries.
Humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Armenia is on the rise. The year 2005 was named the Year of Russia in Armenia and 2006 was declared the Year of Armenia in Russia. In 2008, Armenia hosted the Season of Russian Culture and the Season of Armenian Culture was held in Russia in 2009. In April 2009, the Russian Centre of Science and Culture was opened in Yerevan. Some 5,000 students are educated at the Russian-Armenian (Slavic) University and there are nine branches of Russian universities and colleges located in Armenia.
Trade and Economic Cooperation
Russia is Armenia's key trading partner and investor. There is a stable system in place to promote economic ties through joint bodies, the Russian-Armenian Inter-Governmental Commission for Economic Cooperation, for example, is firmly on track. The 12th session of the commission was held in Yekaterinburg from October 22 to 23, 2010. The meeting of the two co-chairmen– Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin and Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan - was held in Yerevan on July 10, 2010. The Russian Trade Mission in Armenia was opened in 2006.
Impacted by the global financial meltdown in 2009, bilateral trade between Russia and Armenia shrank to $723.2 million, down 19.3% from 2008: Russian exports dropped by 11.6% to $611.9 million and imports plummeted 45.5% to $111.3 million.
In 2010, trade started to pick up: from January to October it increased to $692 million, up 21.9% compared with the same period of 2009, with exports rising 19.8% to $576.4 million and imports 33.7% to $115.7 million.
Russia granted the Armenian government a soft loan worth $500 million for a term of 15 years to help it deal with the aftereffects of the global credit crunch (the respective inter-governmental agreement took effect on June 10, 2010).
Russia's cumulative investment in Armenia since 1991 has topped $2.8 billion. The key investment targets include the energy, banking, mining, smelting and construction sectors, communications and information technologies. Among the major investment projects are the construction of gas power facilities in cooperation with Gazprom, the acquisition of the assets of national telecom operator Armentel by Vimpelcom and the purchase of a stake in a leading Armenian bank, Armsberbank, by VTB Bank.
The energy sector remains central to economic cooperation between the two countries. In particular, nuclear power production has been pushed to a new level. Russia continues to assist Armenia in the safe operation of the Armenian Nuclear Power Station and is set to take part in manufacturing a new generator for the station and in prospecting for, and mining, uranium in the country. In February 2010, a Russian-Armenian 50/50 joint venture was established by Atomstroiexport and Metsamorenergoatom, the customer who placed an order for the construction of a new generator for the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant.
Armenia has been promoting direct economic ties with some 70 entities of the Russian Federation; Moscow, St Petersburg, the Rostov and Sverdlovsk regions lead in terms of economic cooperation.
