The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting.
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. Also in attendance are Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei Overchuk
Mikhail Mishustin with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. Also in attendance are Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei Overchuk
Mikhail Mishustin: Mr Pashinyan, I would like to welcome you sincerely once again. I am happy to see you again and would like to convey warm greetings and best wishes from President of Russia Vladimir Putin. You discussed the Russian-Armenian bilateral agenda just recently with him.
We also met not long ago at the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting in Minsk. Of course, we need to continue our dialogue on both the most urgent bilateral issues and on our relations within the EAEU.
I would like to confirm again that we value our friendly and fraternal relations with Armenia. They are rooted in the deep historical and spiritual ties of our peoples. As you know, next week, on 29 August, we will celebrate a significant date – 25 years since the singing of our Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance that laid the foundations of Russian-Armenian allied relations.
In cooperation with our Armenian partners, we are making prompt decisions to protect our trade and economic cooperation from the illegal sanctions against the Russian Federation. And we have achieved tangible results: in the first six months of this year, our trade grew by 42 percent compared to the first half of the previous year. In absolute figures, our trade exceeded $1.6 billion. This is a record amount for our trade.
As for Russian capital investment in Armenia, it amounts to about $2 billion, as you know. Naturally, we would like to expedite our work on priority projects in transport, industry and energy. It is important to create the proper conditions for the efficient operation of businesses and to make better use of the potential of small and medium-sized companies. Armenia is doing a great job on this as regards Russian companies, and I hope Russia reciprocates by doing the same for Armenian businesses. The business mission of Russian companies, among them VEB.RF, will be a good platform for this. It will be held in Armenia in September. Incidentally, my deputy, Alexei Overchuk, will head this mission. We are also working hard to expand the use of national currencies in bilateral trade. I am sure this will promote growth in trade and, most importantly, help diversify its structure.
We have been working hard to unblock economic and transport connections in the South Caucasus in line with the agreements reached by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Our current meeting is taking place on the sidelines of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting. We are successfully overcoming the consequences of the global economic instability within the framework of our union. You talked about this today as well. I am convinced that together we can ensure the sustainability of our economies, EAEU members, and, most importantly, will increase the living standards of our people.
Thank you. Mr Pashinyan, go ahead please.
Nikol Pashinyan: Thank you very much, Mr Mishustin. I am very glad to meet with you again. Indeed, these meetings are very important for us because they allow us to control certain situations that unfortunately seem to occur too often. However, there is good news as well. The figures you cited are the very specific result of our joint work. I recall that during my official visit to Moscow in April, we discussed our responses to the challenges that were facing our economies. I am happy that today, during this conversation, we can mention some practical results for the Armenian economy as well. You emphasised how much our bilateral trade has grown. I would like to stress again that I see this as a practical result of our consultations, our joint efforts.
I called you recently to express my gratitude for the prompt decisions made to resolve emerging problems, in particular, at the Upper Lars checkpoint. Representatives from Russia and Armenia quickly resolved the transport problems with our colleagues from Georgia and we settled the situation. The main point is that Armenia and Russia continue their political dialogue at a high level and this dialogue is quite effective. During our telephone conversation two days ago, Vladimir Putin and I emphasised the importance of our anniversary, 25 years since the singing of our Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. This is an anniversary year for us in general. In April, we celebrated 30 years of Armenia-Russia diplomatic relations. Now we will have a new anniversary in a couple of days.
I am confident that these anniversaries reflect the atmosphere of our relations. I know that together, despite the difficulties, we can overcome the situations that create problems for our economies and for cooperation. I am very happy that today we have an opportunity to discuss a broad range of bilateral issues.
As for the Eurasian Economic Union, we have discussed everything in detail at our restricted-attendance meeting, and I think we have arrived at constructive solutions.
