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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Meets With Armenian President Serzh Sa

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  • Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Meets With Armenian President Serzh Sa

    PRIME MINISTER VLADIMIR PUTIN MEETS WITH ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN

    premier.gov.ru
    Nov 17 2010

    Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

    Vladimir Putin: Mr Sargsyan, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome. I know
    that you have come here to attend festivities, but I'm happy to have
    this opportunity to meet with you and discuss the development of our
    relations, above all in the economy.

    Russia has long been Armenia's leading trade and economic partner,
    and I will not spend much time talking about our trade. It stands at
    a good level. Unfortunately, it declined a bit in 2009 as a result of
    the crisis, but it has been recovering rapidly. Even in 2009, Russian
    direct investment in Armenia's economy increased, and currently stands
    at about USD 3 billion, USD 2.8 billion to be exact. It means that
    in 2009 it increased by USD 500 million. Last summer, in June if I'm
    not mistaken, we also issued an additional government loan of USD 500
    million to Armenia. We hope that this loan helped and was received in
    good time in order to create stability in the social sphere and the
    economy. Russia's largest companies are working actively in Armenia's
    market. And we are thankful to you and the Armenian government for
    creating favourable conditions for this work and for this cooperation.

    I'm glad to see you here. Welcome!

    Serzh Sargsyan: Thank you, Mr Putin. I, too, am glad to have this
    chance to meet today. I am pleased to say that the Armenian-Russian
    strategic partnership is developing stably. Russia remains Armenia's
    leading trade and economic partner. You correctly noted that our
    bilateral trade has risen 12% this year. Last year we received over
    500 million in investments. This year we receive investments, too. Our
    long-standing economic ties are also reinforced by the projects that
    we are currently implementing. I'm referring to the construction of a
    new unit at the Metsamorskaya nuclear power plant and the modernisation
    and expansion of our railway system. There have been large, long-term
    investments in the communications sector. We are developing very well.

    I would like to thank you once again for granting us the government
    loan. Without this money, we probably would not have been able to
    recover this year. And we have been recovering this year. At the same
    time, just like Russia, our agriculture has been facing hard times
    due to the weather. While our industrial growth is about 10%, we are
    experiencing a decline of between 17% and 18% in agriculture. But we
    sincerely hope that in cooperation with Russia - seeing as our main
    enterprises are either joint ventures with Russia or funded entirely
    by Russian capital - we will recover from the crisis. Thank you.

    Vladimir Putin: Mr Sargsyan, while we are also experiencing serious
    difficulties in our agricultural industry this year due to the weather,
    we have nevertheless responded to the call of our Armenian friends
    and delivered 1,000 tonnes of wheat seeds to Armenia this September
    so that fields can be sowed in time and yield a good harvest next
    year. We are prepared to continue our cooperation in this area.

    We are aware of Armenia's needs and will continue coordinating all
    these issuesl.

    Serzh Sargsyan: Thank you very much.




    From: A. Papazian
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