According to 168 Zham daily, ex-Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated a month ago that Armenia was negotiating a loan agreement at the amount of USD 1 bln with Russia.

Meanwhile, sources said the amount of the loans negotiated totaled USD 2 bln.

Deputy Minister of Finance Vardan Aramyan neither denied, nor confirmed the reports Aug. 22, noting that RA government is in constant search of ways to fill the budget deficit, the paper claims.

This incited disagreements within the ruling elite, with Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan noting that the loan agreement will even further force Armenia into joining the Eurasian Union.

However, sources say President Serzh Sargsyan backs the idea, considering the possibility of the funds to shape better public attitude ahead of presidential elections, the paper says.