Russia will donate $42 million to the government of Armenia to help implement a string of measures envisaged by the "road map" of Armenia's joining the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Russian transport minister Maxim Sokolov, the co-chairman of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, said today (June 26).

As ARKA reports, speaking at the 16th meeting of the joint task force in the town of Abovyan, 20 km off Yerevan, Sokolov said the money will be used for purchase of equipment and services.

According to him, the quality of cooperation between Armenia and Russia improved further after Armenia’s formal accession to the Eurasia Economic Union.

"Armenian companies have gained access to the capacious and protected 170-million market of the EEU, which guarantees free movement of goods, services, etc. Our cooperation in the financial sphere is also developing and there are now prerequisites for increasing inflow of foreign direct investment into Armenian economy, first of all into infrastructure, energy and rail transport projects," he added.

He further welcomed the high scale of Armenian-Russian cooperation in virtually all areas.

"Recently, we have signed 11 intergovernmental agreements, including those on cooperation in the sectors of nuclear safety and supply of gas, oil and rough diamonds,” Sokolov said.

Sokolov also noted that despite the change in the economic situation in both countries as a result of devaluation of their national currencies and lower energy prices, the volume of trade showed only a minor decrease.