The fact of the rise of the authority of Armenia is appraisable that in the Eurasian Economic Union. All these achievements have simply positive impact on the economy of the Republic of Armenia. The Deputy Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration Vagharshak Hakobyan said about this.
On November 3, at the joint sitting of the NA Standing Committees on Regional and Eurasian Integration and on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs moderated by Vagharshak Hakobyan and Gevorg Papoyan the preliminary programmes and the financial allocations being designed for the development of the economic and political relations with the Eurasian Economic Union and other regional countries by the draft law on the RA State Budget for 2023 were debated.
The RA Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan noted that separate programme financial means are not designed by the draft state budget for 2023 on economic integration processes. The ongoing policies and the integration processes within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union are mainly substantive and progrmmed, they relate to the content of the united decision-making in the sphere of foreign trade policy and do not imply separate programme financing.
According to Tigran Khachatryan, the structure has financial support toolkit: the Eurasian Development Bank and the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development with the programmes being supported by them take part in the financing of different infrastructure programmes in different directions. However, those issues are clarified in more detail in the context of the policies being implemented by every Ministry.
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The Deputy Chair of the Committee Vagharshak Hakobyan underlined the importance of the Committee’s activity, noting that the cooperation with the partners of the Government is gaining momentum. Vagharshak Hakobyan proposed the attendees to single out the parts regarding the sphere and presented for debate of the joint Committees in the next years.
The Minister of Finance noted that the Eurasian Development Bank and the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development more and more take part in different branches of the economy of Armenia and in terms of financing the implementing programmes in the spheres. In his opinion, during the coming year they will reach to a volume that one can distinguish them from the context of the debates of the general programme and make a subject of report during the joint sitting of the Committee. “If this format is acceptable, next year we can organize the debates in a way that the invitees will prepare separate reports especially on that part,” Tigran Khachatryan said. Vagharshak Hakobyan considered admissible the Minister’s proposed format.
The Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan touched upon the trade turnover and investment volume between Armenia and the EAEU member states.
In the first eight months of 2022 the trade turnover of Armenia with the EAEU countries was 2.778 billion USD, which compared with the same period of the previous year increased by 74.1%.
In January-August 2022, the export from the RA to the EAEU countries was 1.1 billion USD, which compared with the same period of the previous year increased twice, and the import from the EAEU countries was 1.67 billion USD, increasing by 58.7% compared with the same period of the previous year.
The trade turnover of Armenia with the RF was 2.642 billion USD, which increased by 71.7% compared with the same period of the previous year, in fact, the export increased twice, and the import by 55.3%.
In the first eight months of 2022, the trade turnover of Armenia with Belarus was 106.7 million USD, which increased by 2.4 times compared with the same period of the previous year, in fact, the export increased by 2.6 times, and the import by 2.2 times.
In the first eight months of 2022, the trade turnover of Armenia with Kazakhstan was 26.6 million USD, which increased by 2.6 times compared with the previous year: the export increased by 14.6%, and the import by 5.9 times.
In the first eight months of 2022, the trade turnover of Armenia with Kyrgyzstan was 2.9 million USD, which increased by 90.8% compared with the same period of the previous year.
In 2021, in the RA economic real section the volume of the net flows of the foreign investments was 204.8 billion AMD, out of which the volume of the net flows of the foreign investments from the EAEU countries was 32.4 billion AMD. In the same period the foreign direct investments were 129.2 billion AMD, out of which about one third, 40.1 billion AMD was from the EAEU countries.
In the first half of 2022, the volume of the net flows of the foreign investments was 41 billion AMD in the RA economy, the volume of the net flows of the foreign investments was about 47 billion AMD from the EAEU countries. During the same period the volume of the net flows of the direct foreign investments was 76.5 billion AMD, out of which about 57.5 billion AMD from the EAEU countries.
According to the Minister of Economy, in 2022 the Eurasian Development Bank signed three deals in Armenia: in the near future several deals are also planned.
At the request of the deputy Shirak Torosyan, Vahan Kerobyan touched upon the trade turnover with the regional countries, particularly, with the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). At present, the issue of extending and improving the IRI Free Trade Agreement is under discussion. Work goes on to make more accessible the logistic ways passing through the IRI for the Armenian freight forwarders.
In this context the Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs Gevorg Papoyan highlighted especially the Memorandum on Extending the last Treaty Gas for Electricity signed between the RA and IRI. To his assessment, a historical document was signed, which is especially important in terms of energy security and energy distribution diversification of Armenia.
The Secretary General of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs Boris Sahakyan documented that within the EAEU framework, a great number of sittings were held, issues on cooperation in the trade-economic, customs, high technological, health care, transport spheres were discussed. To his evaluation, the work of the structure is rather active.
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
