Armenia out of hope for foreign aid

By AzerNews

Armenia is gradually losing its importance for the countries which previously reacted to its imploring requests, and faces a more deplorable economic situation. Now the predicament has reached a point that some countries refuse to send aid and see no prospects for investment in the country.

Thus, according to the Armenian statistics body, the volume of humanitarian aid sent to Armenia reduced by 62.1 percent in Jan.-Feb. 2013 compared to the same period of last year.

Some 432 tons of goods valued at about $7.5 million were delivered to Armenia as humanitarian aid during the first two months of the year, Panorama.am reported.

According to the data, 49.8 percent of the total aid included chemicals and goods of related industries, while 14.7 percent was made up by textile goods, 9.7 percent by devices, 6.5 percent by machinery and equipment, 8.2 percent industrial goods, 2.7 percent base metals and items, and 8.4 percent other merchandise.

Most of humanitarian aid was received from Switzerland (31 per cent), the U.S. (28.1 per cent), France (3.6 per cent), Germany and China (3.5 per cent) and Russia (2.9 per cent).

The Armenian National Statistics Service also reported that foreign investment in the Armenian economy in 2012 made up $1.59 billion, News.am reported.

In 2012 investments reduced by over 8 percent compared to 2011. Armenia`s giant neighbor, Russia, reduced investments in Armenia over three times.

The investment inflow from Russian companies in 2012 constituted $123 million. Nevertheless, the volume of the Russian investment fell 3.2 times. One-third of Russian investments was made in the South Caucasus republic's telecommunications sector.

France was the largest foreign investor in Armenia with $230 million worth of investments, which is 2.3 times more than in the previous year.

Investments from Germany and Switzerland were made in the mining sector, constituting $48 million and $43 million respectively. Investments from the Seychelles made up $23 million.