During the past week Armenia has been visited by high-ranking Russian officials, who have concluded a number of important agreements, which, however, some Armenian experts took as a “crackdown”.

Russia, which holds control of the entire energy sector of Armenia and whose Federal Security Service (a formal KGB successor) is protecting the borders of Armenia, has decided to check whether everything is fine down here and to strengthen the relationship just in case.

At a meeting with representatives of the Border Control Service of Russia and the 102nd Russian military base in Armenia on February 8, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said that relations between Russia and Armenia are of allied nature. Patrushev and his Armenian counterpart Artur Baghdasaryan signed a protocol on military-technical cooperation. The system on Armenia’s border with Iran, whose nuclear ambitions are a potential flashpoint for war in the region, will be upgraded in order to raise the level of overall security. An Armenian-Russian regional center on cooperation between the ministries of emergency situations will be set up in Armenia.

Russia is ready to discuss increasing its share in the funding of a new nuclear reactor’s construction at the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, Sergey Kiriyenko, the head of Russia’s state-run atomic agency Rosatom, told reporters in Yerevan. According to earlier reports, the Russian side was ready to provide a fifth or a quarter of funding for the project. (The estimated cost of the project enabling Armenia to have a new nuclear reactor with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts by 2020 is $4.5 billion).

In the agricultural sector Armenia and Russia have good prospects of deepening their cooperation, said Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Victor Zubkov, who was also visiting Yerevan this week. In particular, of bilateral interest are programs on the construction of greenhouses and livestock facilities, the organization of supplies of agricultural machinery. Zubkov said that Russia is ready to open an affiliate of Rosselkhozbank (Russian Agricultural Bank) and start lending to Armenia’s rural economy.

Trade turnover between Armenia and Russia in 2011 came close to $1 billion, a 15.8-percent increase compared to the previous year. However, according to Zubkov, such a level of trade does not conform fully to the serious potential that underlies the relationship between the two countries.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin earlier this week also met in Yerevan to discuss the concept of long-term economic cooperation until 2020.

“Our relations with Russian partners continue to grow steadily. Thus, together with my colleague [Levitin], we visited one of the free economic zones planned in Armenia,” said Premier Sargsyan. This free economic zone will be managed by the Russian company Sitronics, which intends to invest up to $10 million in the project.

It is interesting that this rapid strengthening of Armenian-Russian friendship comes amid a controversial pre-election campaign in Russia. Still before the start of the formal campaign a group of young people floated the idea to set up fan clubs to “popularize the ideas” of Russia’s influential prime minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin. Such clubs were opened on February 2 upon the initiative of the CIS Youth Union. The move elicited a mostly negative reaction on online social networking sites and among the broader public. Analyzing the relationship between Armenia and Russia, Shant TV noted that as much as Armenians do respect Russia, there is no showing excessive love for it or meddling in its internal affairs. But Russia’s current leadership appears to be demanding stronger assurances of loyalty.

“Only Vladimir Putin and his men can ensure economic and political stability in Russia,” Premier Sargsyan told media while visiting the Armenian parliament on February 8. The head of the Armenian government said that these factors have an essential impact on the welfare of Armenia and its stable development.