A few days after the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict, the transfer of Russian and Belarusian businesses to Armenia continues to this day.

And what is the overall picture in this regard in Armenia after the first 4-6 weeks?

Firstly, we can conclude that moving to Armenia is efficient, Russian (Belarusian) business can work in Armenia on relatively comfortable conditions.

Registration of legal entities (LLC; CJSC) and sole/private entrepreneurs.
The registration system works quite quick (the incorporation/registration takes place at the place during some 1-2 hours, it is also possible to conduct registration based on simple power of attorney), bureaucratic process is quite minimized. There is no state duty for registration of legal entities; for registration of sole/private entrepreneurs, a state duty of 3,000 drams (about 7 US dollars) is charged. Stamps are not required/obligatory in Armenia. To incorporate a legal entity or register a sole/private entrepreneur, a Russian internal or internal passport is sufficient.

Opening bank accounts.
In this regard, the situation is as follows. About 2 dozen banks operating in Armenia can be divided into several groups regarding the opening bank accounts for an Armenian organization with a Russian owner/director.
• The first group includes banks where bank accounts are being opened almost without problems and request of disclosure for the additional documents and information. Usually this takes one business day. There are some "negative assumptions" regarding the banks of this group – wouldn’t such a "liberal" approach trigger restrictions for the bank in the future however these banks themselves do not admit this and as of now there aren’t any signs of such restrictions. Opening a bank in this group of banks may be accompanied by bank payments in the amount of 100-300 US dollars. Transfers to the Russian Federation are being performed in rubles, and in the case of currency transfers from abroad, the euro is the referable currency.
• In the second group are the banks where the opening process lasts from 3 to 10 days. Documents of various types are required (the most common are lease agreements for at least 3 months, contracts, a reflection of the sources of income of Russian business, the resident permit for the owner/ director of a company), the list of documents is being revised regularly. As a rule, the opening of the account in these banks is accompanied with payments of up to 300-500 US dollars. However, once the accounts are opened in these banks, it can be considered more perspective from the point that the application of possible restrictions in these banks can be considered less possible.
• In group 3 you are the banks where the opening of bank accounts is not recommended at all, since such a probability is assessed as a significant minor because of highly bureaucratic requirements and “other approaches” (It should be noted that even these banks do not have any official restrictions on opening or servicing accounts with Russian founders / directors, but in practice opening accounts is problematic).

Work permits.
Citizens of Russia and Belarus, as citizens of the EEU (Eurasian Economic Union) working in Armenia, are exempted from the requirement to have a work permit. Citizens of the Russian Federation can visit Armenia and enter Armenia with Russian internal passports. In Armenia, they can register with an internal passport at the place of residence, halving the number of public services (social cards) (which is needed in Armenia in the areas of tax accounting, banking and other services).

Attitude of the population.
Citizens of Russia, Belarus meets in Armenia friendly and hospitable approach from local population. It is not a problem to communicate with the local population, even state/ municipal institutions in Russian, use the services provided or trade.