There are no doubts that during the meetings with Serzh Sarkissian the representatives of the military authorities of Russia will touch on the issue of the contradictions between Moscow and Tbilisi. As it is known, reacting on the harsh position of Russia concerning the settlement of the Pankissi problem, the Georgian authorities demanded to speed up the withdrawal of Russian military bases from the territory of Georgia. The biggest one is in the Akhalkalaki region populated mainly with Armenians. Because of this, the official Yerevan becomes if not an indirect participant of the ongoing processes, at least a party interested in peaceful settlement of the conflict. Recently Foreign Minister of Armenia said that Yerevan was ready to act as a mediator in the settlement of the conflict between its two neighboring countries. The Georgian authorities have not expressed their attitude to this initiative. We’ll remind that before his visit to Moscow Serzh Sarkissian had a chance to compare the positions of Yerevan and Tbilisi – Defense Minister of Georgia and the Governor of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region populated with Armenians paid official visits to Armenia.
Apart from the political, military and military-technical problems, the Armenian Minister is authorized also to negotiate in Moscow about developing the economic partnership. Sarkissian is scheduled to meet with the Russian co-chairman of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, Minister of Industry, Science and Technologies Ilya Klebanov. According to the available data, among the subjects to be discussed is the issue of supplying fuel to the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, which is a joint Armenian-Russian entity. The Armenian government plans to purchase nuclear fuel worth USD 6 million 700 thousand from Russia. Regarding the debts for previous supplies, the government is going to rent several profitable enterprises of energy sphere to Russia. Those are first of all the water power plants of the Sevan-Hrazdan cascade.
During the negotiations between Sarkissian and Klebanov, the issue of efficient usage of the strategic objects passed to Russia as a repayment of the foreign debt of Armenia will be discussed. We’ll remind that the 5 enterprises and scientific institutions working mainly in military-industrial complex were valued at $100 million (this is the sum of the Armenian debt). Among them – the biggest thermal power plant of the country, robot producing factory, institute of mathematical machines. At present the Russian experts continue to study the forms of most rational usage of the potential of those objects.
It can be supposed that the co-chairmen of the commission on Armenian-Russian cooperation will discuss also the management of the enterprises that have become the property of Russia. There is information that at present the possibility of passing some enterprises to asset management of the President of the Union of Armenians of Russia businessman Ara Abrahamyan is being discussed. It is also said that Serzh Sarkissian will meet him in Moscow.
After finishing the official visit to Moscow the Armenian Defense Minister will leave for Athens to negotiate with the military authorities of Greece – another strategic partner of Armenia. On his return to Yerevan he will start to get ready for the visit to Armenia of his Ukraine counterpart from. The first visit of the Defense Minister of Ukraine will take place on October 5.
