Saturday, 6 December 2008
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received a delegation led by governor of RF Swerdlovsk region Edward Rossel. The delegation is in Armenia to attend the 1988 Spitak earthquake 20th anniversary commemorations. The head of the Armenian government thanked governor Rossel and the members of his delegation for acceptance of invitation as this made it possible for him to extend personal thanks to the people of Russia for the assistance provided on those mournful days 20 years ago. Tigran Sargsyan noted that the Armenian-Russian relations have strengthened steadily since independence to grow into a strategic partnership. According to the Prime Minister, about one thousand companies fully or partly owned by Russian equity are operating in Armenia, bilateral relationship enjoy high development dynamics in all almost sectors, with the cooperation agenda being replenished with new joint projects from year to year.
The Armenian Prime Minister briefed the guests on the scope of issues discussed with the head of Russian government during his December 5 visit to Moscow, including the possibility of making joint efforts to mitigate the negative impact of the global financial and economic crisis.
The parties underscored the need for building up or strengthening direct ties of cooperation between individual administrative units of the two countries. Tigran Sargsyan advised that the agenda of his meeting with Vladimir Putin also featured discussion of a possibility for the next session of the intergovernmental commission to be held in one of Russia's regions, inclusive of Swerdlovsk.
Governor Rossel indicated that in different sectors the region of Swerdlovsk may offer Armenian partners vast opportunities and an immense resource for cooperation, including the scientific field. He provided a brief description of the potentialities available in the fields of metallurgy, mechanical engineering, production of health care supplies and pharmaceuticals, energy, agriculture etc. Then Mr. Rossel presented his region's current economic status and discussed specific cooperation projects.
Highly appreciative of the proposals made by his interlocutor, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said he would instruct the leadership of the Armenian Development Agency to pay a visit to Swerdlovsk region in order to discuss the practicalities on the spot. The head of government assured that the whole process will be given a special focus on the part of his government.
