On September 17th, a session was held between the National Assembly Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration and the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration, and Relations with Compatriots. Several issues dealing with Armenian-Russian relations were discussed. The head of the committee and Prosperous Armenia deputy, Mikayel Melkumyan, told reporters that extending the length of time that the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant’s resources can be utilized is a critical issue. Three years ago, Armenia had received a loan and a grant from Russia for this.
“We received information that 200 million USD had already been provided, but a 70 million USD loan will not be provided by Rosatom. We will have a problem here because the cost of paying off this loan will be included in the price of electricity, so there will be an increase in electricity prices. We spoke about the fate of the loan for the power plant, and the committee did not have any objections,” Mikayel Melkumyan said.
According to him, the next important issue that was discussed was the ability for Armenian citizens to drive in Russia using Armenian driver’s licenses. “The driver’s license issue will be resolved by the end of the year because there needs to be equal conditions in the EAEU. The EAEU board is aware of the discussions we held in the State Duma.
The other issue was the supply of assault weapons from a CIS member state to a country that is not a CIS member state. This is in reference to how Russia sells Azerbaijan weapons. “We spoke about this issue and there was no negative response about establishing some framework for selling Azerbaijan weapons. Russia is carrying out its project of selling weapons, but it is unacceptable to sell assault weapons,” Mikayel Melkumyan said.
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Luiza Sukiasyan
