On February 19, 2021, on the initiative of the RA Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan, an online meeting was organized jointly with the Investment Support Center to discuss the possibility of expanding Armenian food exports to the Russian market and increasing the presence of Armenian products in the Russian food retailer company X5 Retail Group. The meeting was also attended by Anna Donchenko, the trade representative of Russia in Armenia, and representatives of more than 40 Armenian companies.

By welcoming the event participants Arman Khojoyan noted: “With limited or no logistical infrastructure, the small production volumes of Armenian farming enterprises are an obstacle to the sales of their production, including exportation thereof. I am confident the availability of necessary infrastructure and proper organization of exports will allow not only local farmers but also companies specializing in exportation and importation to operate more efficiently and achieve tangible results”.

In his speech, the Deputy Minister emphasized the readiness of the RA Ministry of Economy and the RA Government to provide assistance to interested parties in all stages of cooperation.

The Russian company was then briefly introduced to the priorities of the RA agriculture and the agricultural industrial complex and their main development trends, as well as the toolkit of the state support provided to business entities in Armenia and the state assistance programs implemented in the RA agricultural sector.

In their turn, the representatives of X5 Retail Group company noted there is a great interest in the Russian market for Armenian food production. According to them, the company’s primary goal is to establish long-term cooperation directly with Armenian producers in order to expand the representation of Armenian products in their commercial networks.

The company has shown great interest especially in Armenian fresh fruits and vegetables, canned products, wines, and dried fruits.

The parties then discussed issues related to the peculiarities of the Russian market, the current competitive conditions and the most expedient directions for exportation of Armenian agricultural products.

A number of issues aimed at mutually beneficial collaboration were discussed during the meeting. An agreement was reached to collect and study all the issues raised in order to take practical steps in the near future.