Arms delivery under Armenia-Russia loan deal to conclude 'by year-end'

PanARMENIAN.Net - Delivery of ammunition under a $200 million loan agreement with Russia will conclude by the end of the year, defense minister Vigen Sargsyan told reporters on Monday, October 2, Aysor.am reports.

Armenian and Russian authorities signed the agreement in February 2016, which provides a ten-year state export loan to Armenia with the payment deferral until early 2018.

Sargsyan was summing up his first year as defense minister and said that the deadline was stipulated in the agreement.

He had earlier said that a part of the weapons had already been shipped to Armenia.

On Monday, the minister said that military industry has been and will continue being among Armenia's priorities.

"Now we have such solutions that are competitive price-wise and have no analogues on the international market," Sargsyan said.

"We aim to make military produce one of most important driving forces of the economy and export high technology military equipment."