Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in the Kyrgyz Republic on a working visit.

The Prime Minister of Armenia will participate in the regular session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan. 

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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is in Kyrgyzstan’s Cholpon-Ata on a working visit, the Heads of Government participating in the regular session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council met with the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov.

Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Japarov met the heads of the delegations and accomponied them to the meeting hall.

The President of Kyrgyzstan welcomed the Heads of Government and expressed hope that the session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council to be held in Cholpon-Ata will be productive for the development of further cooperation.

Prime Minister Pashinyan thanked the President of Kyrgyzstan for the warm reception and said, “An important session is expected, we have a big and full agenda on important issues. I hope that we will manage to come to concrete decisions, leaving as little work as possible to the meeting of the Eurasian Supreme Council. I can note that the negative forecasts in the Eurasian economic area did not come true, on the contrary, our perception of the situation was confirmed, because we had clearly recorded that the situation created after the pandemic, of course, brings with it new challenges, but also creates new opportunities. I am glad that we are focused on that agenda, which aims to manage the challenges and seize the opportunities that are created. When we look at the trade turnover indicators within the Eurasian Economic Union, we see that there is strong growth compared to 2021. Of course, this should be recorded, but we should not relax, because the hard times are unfortunately not over. It is necessary to focus on trying to maintain the pace of trade turnover between EAEU countries. I am confident that we will work efficiently and the decisions to be taken will be useful for our citizens, countries and the Union."

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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took part in the narrow-format session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan.

The Mrime ministers of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union discussed issues related to the strengthening of the domestic market, the development of transport infrastructure, the regulation of customs tariffs, the digital agenda and cooperation in other areas.

The extended-format session of the Inter-governmental Council will take place on August 26.

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Within the framework of the session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, the meeting of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin took place in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan.

Mikhail Mishustin first conveyed the warm greetings and best wishes of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Prime Minister Pashinyan and noted, “Recently, you discussed with each other the issues on the agenda of the relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia. I also met with you recently in Minsk within the framework of the session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

Of course, it is necessary to continue the dialogue on important topics, both on the bilateral agenda and on our relations within the EAEU framework. I would like to emphasize once again that we highly value our friendly, fraternal relations with Armenia, which are based on deep historical and spiritual ties between our peoples. Next week, on August 29, we will mark a significant anniversary - the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, which laid the foundations for allied relations between the Russian Federation and Armenia.

Together with our Armenian partners, we adopt operational decisions aimed at protecting our trade and economic cooperation, including in the conditions of illegal sanctions against Russia. We have concrete results. according to the results of the first 6 months of the current year, compared to the same period of the previous year, our mutual trade turnover increased by 42%. In absolute numbers, it reached 1 billion 600 million USD. By the way, this is a record high indicator in our trade turnover. As for the investment of Russian capital in Armenia, it reaches 2 billion USD.

Of course, we want to speed up work on priority projects in the fields of transport, industry, and energy. It is important to create favorable conditions for business activities in order to effectively use the opportunities of SMEs. By the way, Armenia is dong that very effectively in the case of Russian companies, I also hope that Russia does the same for Armenian companies. In this regard, the event to be held in Armenia in September with the participation of Russian companies will be a good platform. The delegation will be headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexey Overchuk.

We are also working hard to expand the use of national currencies in bilateral trade. I am sure that it will contribute to the growth of our trade turnover, as well as to the diversification of its components, which is very important. We pay primary attention to the unblocking of economic and transport infrastructures in the South Caucasus, in line with the agreement of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Our meeting today is held within the framework of the session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council. As a Union, we are successfully overcoming the consequences of global economic instability. You also talked about it today. I am confident that together we will be able to first of all ensure the economic stability of the EAEU member states and, most importantly, to raise the living standards of our citizens.

Thank you."

In his turn, Nikol Pashinyan said, “Thank you, dear Mikhail Vladimirovich, I am very glad for our regular meeting. These meetings are important for us in the context of managing situations that, unfortunately, often arise.

However, there is also good news. the numbers you talked about are a very specific result of our work. I remember during my official visit to Russia in April, when we met and discussed what we should do together in order to somehow manage the challenges that have faced our economies. I am very happy that today, this conversation is already showing concrete results, particularly for the economy of Armenia. You emphasized how much the trade turnover between Armenia and Russia has increased. I would like to emphasize once again that I consider this a concrete result of our conversations and joint efforts.

I called you recently to thank for the operational solutions that were adopted, in particular, in the context of crisis situations at the Upper Lars checkpoint. The representatives of Armenia and Russia found very prompt solutions with together with their Georgian counterparts, as a result of which we were able to overcome the situation.

The high-level political dialogue between Armenia and Russia continues, it is an effective dialogue. Two days ago, in a telephone conversation with Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin we also emphasized the importance of the 25-year anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between Armenia and Russia. In general, this is a jubilee year for us. In April, we marked the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Russia. These days we also have another anniversary, and I am sure that these anniversaries reflect the atmosphere of our relationship. I am confident that despite all the difficulties, together we will overcome the situations that create problems for our economies and cooperation. I am very glad that today we have the opportunity to discuss the extensive agenda of our bilateral relations. As for the Eurasian Economic Union, we discussed everything in detail in the narrow-format session, and I think we came to constructive solutions."

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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the extended-format session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan.

Before the start of the session, the Heads of Government of the EAEU member states participated in the ceremony of issuing stamps dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Prime Minister Pashinyan delivered remarks at the extended-format session, where he particularly said,

"Dear members of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council,
Dear participants of the session,

First of all, I want to thank our Kyrgyz colleagues and personally Akylbek Japarov for the traditional warm hospitality and for organizing today's event at a high level.

I sincerely greet the Heads of Government of the member and observer states of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the participants and guests of today's meeting.

Undoubtedly, the meeting of the Intergovernmental Council is a good opportunity to continue the exchange of ideas on a number of key issues and to develop mutually acceptable solutions to minimize the challenges posed by the global economy that have gained unprecedented scale and depth in recent months.

Despite the global economic transformations and remarkable shocks in financial systems, a certain positive tendency is observed in trade and economic relations due to the advantages of the Eurasian integration.

In this context, I should mention that in the first half of 2022, Armenia's economy has ensured a significant increase in the volume of mutual trade with EAEU countries. During that period, mutual trade with EAEU countries increased by 52.5% compared to the same period of 2021 and amounted to 1.7 billion USD, while Armenia's exports with EAEU countries increased by 48.9% and imports by 54.2%.

I should mention that the growth rate of exports in mutual trade is higher than the growth rate of exports of Armenian products to third countries. I am confident that further cooperation will be no less effective, including through the implementation of new initiatives.

There is one more issue to which I would like to draw the attention of my colleagues. Due to the changes in the Union's foreign trade structure in recent months, there have been significant deviations in the distribution of customs duties. Based on this, we consider it necessary to return to the discussion of the issue of approval of the unified methodology for the distribution of shares in the near future.

Dear colleagues,

As the continuation of the discussion of the key issues on the agenda, which started yesterday at the narrow-format meeting, I would like to dwell on some aspects that are relevant for our Union.

I should mention that the Republic of Armenia attaches great importance to the formation of a common gas market within the Union and is ready for a constructive dialogue to reach a consensus on unresolved issues.

For achieving a complete unified market of goods and services, we consider integration in the fields of transport and infrastructure to be important. With the right approach, the transport-logistics sector can be one of the main drivers of EAEU development and become a competitive advantage for the union, creating favorable organizational and economic conditions for transit traffic.

For the construction of the EAEU transport-logistics complex, it is necessary to synchronize the economic policy at the national and supranational levels and ensure the commonality of the approaches to the design and operation of the integration infrastructure projects.

In this context, I would like to highlight the active cooperation with the Eurasian Development Bank and the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development, both in the bilateral format and in the promotion of integration projects with a cooperative effect. The creation of new cooperative chains and the use of tools of financial institutions will serve as an effective incentive for the development of industrial co-operative.

No less important factor in solving the raised issues is the use of the advantages of digitalization, which in turn creates a solid basis for the effective integration and partnership of the member states in the field of high technologies. International experience has clearly shown the significance of the economic impact of its introduction.

The advancement of digital technologies in the economy and trade will promote the minimization and even complete elimination of existing barriers, which in turn will increase the efficiency of economic ties and reduce costs in trade and cooperative chains.

I consider the development of e-commerce to be another important field. For EAEU countries, state regulation and control in the field of e-commerce are becoming more and more relevant, dictating the need to build a reliable control system with the provision of tax mechanisms in line with the best international practice of tax administration.

Considering the sensitivity of the issue, it is necessary to jointly move quickly towards improving the legal and regulatory environment for electronic commerce.

It is obvious that the measures aimed at increasing economic growth are related to the solution of a number of problems in the fields of education, health care, and social protection, and in this regard, the need to strengthen the economic component between EAEU cmember states with social and humanitarian projects acquire extra importance.

From this point of view, we welcome the holding of the first youth forum of CIS and EAEU. We hope that work with young people will firmly enter the agenda of our organization, and the forum will become a modern format for involving young professionals in decision-making processes at the current stage of the development of integration processes. I am sure that new leaders will emerge from today's participants of the forum, who will shape the state policy of our countries.

Dear heads of delegations,

In conclusion, I would like to thank all of you for the joint work. The Armenian side once again confirms its readiness to cooperate for pushing forward our common agenda in order to ensure the well-being of the citizens of EAEU member states.

Thanks for attention".

During the session, issues related to the formation of the common gas market within the Union, the financing of industrial co-operatives, the development of transport integration projects, the regulation of the alcohol market and certain aspects of the tax administration of e-commerce were discussed.

During the session, a decision was made to hold the next session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in autumn in Yerevan.