Russia plans to invest $1 billion in the Armenian economy in the near future, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Dmitry Volvach said Tuesday.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the eighth Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

The Russian minister noted that bilateral trade between the two countries is recovering well in the post-pandemic period as it has shown 17% growth in 2021, despite a 4% fall in 2020 in the first year of the pandemic.

"We know that there are concrete projects worth more than $1 billion, which will soon enter the Armenian economy," he said.

According to Volvach, the investments will help create new high-tech jobs in Armenia and will facilitate exchanges in various areas including the economy, culture and infrastructure development.

Russia currently constitutes some 40% of the foreign investments in Armenia.

Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov also confirmed that Russian companies are ready to invest about $1 billion in the Armenian economy in coming years.

"Russian firms are among the largest taxpayers in Armenia," he was cited by TASS as saying.