Armenian Finance Minister Tigran Khachatryan today said that economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the West may negatively impact the Armenian economy, especially in the areas of remittances and trade

Khachatryan told members of a special session of the Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Economic Affairs that remittances from Russia, which amounted to some US$850 million last year, will probably drop by 40%.

Khachatryan didn’t want to speculate on the degree to which Armenia’s overall economic growth might be affected.

Armenia’s Central Bank, on March 15, downgraded its growth forecast for the country from 5.3% to 1.6%

The minister said that exports from Armenia to Russia will be impacted as well since exporters are now being paid with devalued Russian rubles and are looking for other markets.