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.
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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.”
