YEREVAN, January 31. /ARKA/. Remittances sent to Armenia in Russian rubles and US dollars by labor migrants working in Russia are going to rise this year, the chairman of the National Union of Employers Gagik Makaryan told a news conference on January 30.

According to him, economic growth trends are obvious across the globe, including Armenia’s major trade partners such as Russia, US, EU, China and countries with emerging markets. According to Makaryan, remittances in Russian rubles will continue to prevail making more than 70% of all money transfers from Russia.

"Economic growth in Russia will open up more labor opportunities for Armenian labor migrants as well promising even higher wages than in 2016 and naturally they will send more money to their families in Armenia," said Makaryan.

He said the growth of money transfers in rubles will strengthen its positions in Armenia and will stimulate trade between Russia and Armenia.

"The accumulation of Russian rubles in Armenia will prompt the need for their use, and some businesses naturally will try to spend them by bringing goods from Russia, which will lead in turn to an artificial increase in turnover," said Makaryan.

According to Armenian Ministry of Finance’s estimates, the amount of money transfers to Armenia will increase by 4-5% in 2017. -0-