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At the invitation of President Serzh Sargsyan, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has arrived in Armenia on a state visit.

The delegation of the RF President comprises ministers, high-level officials from the Presidential Administration, governors, and heads of the leading Russian companies representing different areas. Among those who have arrived in Yerevan are, in particular, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, First Deputy of the Chairman of the Government Igor Shuvalov, Minister of Education and Science Dmitri Livanov, Minister of Energy Alexander Novak, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, Minister of Regional Development Igor Slyunyev, Minister of Transportation and the Russian Co-Chair of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation Maxim Sokolov, Minister of Agriculture Nikolay Fyodorov, First Deputy Minister of Defense Arkadi Bakhin, Deputy Minister for Economic Development Alexei Likhachev, Head of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation Alexander Fomin, Director General of Rosatom Company Sergei Kirienko, Head of the Federal Tourism Agency Alexander Radkov, President of Rosneft Company Igor Sechin, President of VTB Bank Andrei Kostin, Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors Alexei Miller, member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Co-Chair of the Armenian-Russian Parliamentary Cooperation Commission Nikolai Ryzhkov, Senior Vice-Chair of the Russian Railways Company Valeri Reshyetnikov and other officials.

At the Shirak airport of Gyumri, after the official ceremony of welcoming the President of the Russian Federation, Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin at Vardan Achemian State Drama Theater participated in the opening of the Third Interregional Forum “Russia. Armenia. Customs Union.” At the plenary session of the Forum, which is conducted with the participation of the representatives of the central and regional state bodies, representatives of non-governmental sector and numerous businessmen (over five hundred) the two Presidents made welcoming remarks.

Prior to it, the Presidents of the two countries visited an exhibition featuring marzes of Armenia and regions of Russia which is aimed at the development of cooperation between the regions of the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation and revealing Armenia’s potential and new opportunities for cooperation from the perspective of Armenia’s membership to the Customs Union.

At Gyumri State Drama Theater Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin through a direct television space bridge observed the ceremony of full commissioning of the 5th energy unit of Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant (TPP). Since January 2013, the TPP has been working in the probationary-productive regime.

At the Forum venue, the Presidents of Armenia and Russia also attended a stamp cancellation ceremony dedicated to XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. The two stamps issued on the occasion show sports in which the Armenian team will participate at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi: the first depicts skiing, while the second is dedicated to downhill skiing. The left corner of the stamps depicts the Sochi hills.

After the opening of the third Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum, Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin, in Gyumri, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the 1988 earthquake in Spitak will place a wreath at the memorial dedicated to the victims of the earthquake and will pay tribute to their memory. Later, they will visit the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri, the presidential press service reported.