Russia to allocate $30m for life extension of Armenian nuclear plants

Russia will grant $30 million to Armenia for extending the life of its nuclear power plants, the Russian government said in a resolution that appeared on the official portal of legal information on Tuesday.
"Russia will appropriate a sum of $30 million from the federal budget to render financial assistance to the Republic of Armenia in 2015-2019 in the form of advance payments in favor of Russian authorized organizations in compliance with point 3 Article 1 of the Agreement signed by the governments of Russia and Armenia on February 5, 2015 for granting a state export credit to the Armenian government to finance works aimed at extending the life of nuclear power plants located in the Armenian territory," the resolution said.
The Russian government has instructed the Finance Ministry to allocate the funds in question from the Russian state budget under the section of "International Relations and International Cooperation."
In his recent interview with the Rossiya 24 TV news channel, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan confirmed that his country wished to develop cooperation with Russia in many spheres, including foreign policy.
Armenia wants to coordinate its foreign policy with Russia, Sargsyan said.
"If we are joining unions, we are naturally taking on obligations," Sargsyan said when asked whether Russia could rely on Armenia’s support in international issues.
"We have had relations with Russia and the Russian people for centuries, but now we have fixed them on paper in documents," Sargsyan said meaning both bilateral Russian-Armenian agreements and Armenia’s participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization /CSTO/.
"First, we have always favoured integration processes; second, we have always wanted to coordinate our foreign policy efforts. Until recently, no one can give a single example that the Armenian side has tried to turn away from its direct commitments," the Armenian president stressed.
He also confirmed that the Armenian leadership will take part in the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War /1941-1945/ to be held in Moscow on May 9.