YEREVAN, JANUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. Director of the Alternative Research Center and member of the Eurasian Expert Club Tatul Manaseryan says the Russians and Russian companies who moved to Armenia and remittances had a big impact on the impressive economic growth of 2022.

Eurasian Expert Club coordinator and political analyst Aram Safaryan noted that the relations with Russia are on a very high level as of the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023.

Manaseryan and Safaryan were speaking at the Relevant Issues of Russian-Armenian Cooperation video-bridge between Moscow and Yerevan.

Safaryan said the figures of last year speak volumes, and show the success of Armenia’s participation in the Eurasian integration process.

Manaseryan presented the trends in the economy. He said that at the backdrop of the situation in Ukraine, migration flows were recorded in Armenia from Russia, also from Belarus, Ukraine (including ethnic Armenians holding citizenship of these countries). Other trends also impacted the economic development in Armenia. According to the economist, the sanctions imposed on Russia have indirectly impacted ally Armenia.

“Although the statistical figures aren’t entirely summed up yet, we expect around 10% business activity growth, which is a very impressive figure. We greatly owe this to the fact that many Russians prefer Armenia as their temporary place of residence and as a place for establishing their business,” Manaseryan said.

250,000-300,000 temporary migrants or expats have arrived to Armenia, according to Manaseryan. And this has strongly impacted the economic and business activity of the country.

“The volume of private remittances to Armenia also grew last year. Over 60% of the total remittances from abroad were from Russia, like before. The total size is nearly 4 billion dollars. This can be considered as an investment into the Armenian economy, this money mostly went into the banking sector,” he said.