ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIED AGREEMENT ON PASSING ENTERPRISES TO RUSSIA TO REPAY STATE DEBT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Today the Armenian parliament ratified the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental agreement on passing the shares of five Armenian enterprises to Russia in order to repay state debt of Armenia to Russia. As reported earlier, the document provides for the passing of the shares of Hrazdan combined heat power plant, "Mars" factory, the research institute of mathematical machines, the research institute of automatic management systems and the institute of the science of materials to Russia to pay back the state debt of $101 million. The final date of passing the stocks of these companies to the Russian party is fixed in April 2003. In the words of Armenian minister of finance and economy Vardan Khachatrian, the deal is highly efficient, as the passed enterprises will soon be included in state programs of the Russian government, which will lead to their active functioning and, consequently, provide employment. Moreover, the funds released from former debt interest payments can be allocated for solution of a number of social problems in Armenia.