YEREVAN, May 26. / ARKA /. NASDAQ OMX Armenia stock exchange director Konstantin Saroyan told a news conference today that he expects the value of bonds and shares traded on the exchange to double this year.

He said his forecast is based on an increasing activity at the market, including transactions with corporate bonds.

He said the value of traded bonds and shares in the first five months of this year has exceeded 1.7 billion drams. He compared this number with 2 billion drams worth turnover in 2013. He said the value of shares traded in the first five months is 1.4 billion drams, while this figure for last year was only 1.5 billion drams.

"With these trends we can predict that the rate of turnover in 2014 will double compared with 2013", he said.

He also said the return from contributions to private pension funds is 9-10 percent. The pension funds are managed by two companies – AMUNDI-ACBA ASSET MANAGEMENT and C-QUADRAT AMPEGA ASSET MANAGEMENT.

"The pension funds are placing the funds in deposits, government bonds, and most recently in foreign funds and bonds,” said Saroyan. According to him, all the activities of the funds are under tight monitoring. -0-