Armenia asks for assistance from Russia

The Armenian media states that the recent visit of Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian to Moscow was undertaken for one major reason, to ask Russia for USD 200 million in assistance to help it overcome the problems created in Armenia by the world financial crisis. Prior to this visit Armenia widely disseminated the idea of coordinating moves to overcome the crisis with Russia.

Armenia did not receive the money. Russian Premier Putin underlined that Russia has already invested USD 1.6 billion in Armenia. Armenia tries to acquire assistance from the World Bank as well but this process will take several months. There was hope in Armenia that either plan would be successful.