Minister: Armenia to deduct unfulfilled weapon payments from debt to Russia

Armenian Defence Minister Suren Papikyan has stated that Russia will reduce Armenia's national debt by the amount paid by the Armenian side for weapons that were not supplied.

“The Armenian finance minister has stated that an agreement was reached between the finance ministries of Armenia and Russia, under which the sum we paid will be deducted from the intergovernmental debt,” Papikyan said, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

However, the Armenian defence minister could not specify at what stage the implementation of this agreement currently stands.

In November 2024, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan proposed deducting the amount paid for weapons that were not supplied from Armenia's debt. 

He said that Yerevan had paid Moscow millions of dollars. Armenia's Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan claimed that part of the shipments had not been obtained, while others were delayed.  

Statements regarding the paid but undelivered military products have been made in Yerevan since 2023. At that time, the Armenian Zhoghovurd newspaper reported, citing sources, that the issue concerns a contract previously signed between the Armenian defence ministry and the Russian Splav plant, which manufactures Smerch rockets.

According to the sources, the plant completed the order and had been reaching out to the Armenian ministry for over a year to arrange the delivery, but Yerevan did not organise its transportation. This was before the beginning of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

By Naila Huseynova