The meeting was co-chaired by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Mher Grigoryan.
23rd meeting of Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia
23rd meeting of Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia. Alexei Overchuk and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Mher Grigoryan
23rd meeting of Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia
The Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia met for its 23rd regular session in Moscow, co-chaired by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Mher Grigoryan.
The parties reviewed the results of bilateral cooperation in trade, economy, energy, industry, transport, agriculture, finance, healthcare, culture, science, interregional cooperation, education, and tourism.
“Our trade and economic ties continue to expand. From January through October 2024, Russia-Armenia mutual trade amounted to $10.2 billion, almost doubling from last year,” Alexei Overchuk said, adding that the two countries have almost fully switched to settlements in national currencies for their trade and economic interactions, with the share of the Russian ruble reaching 96.3 percent in mutual settlements.
Russia is a major investor in the Armenian economy; its investments in industrial projects implemented in Armenia have reached $3.4 billion. More than 40 large Russian companies operate in Armenia, some of them being major taxpayers to the latter’s state budget.
“Along with direct investments, there are also Eurasian development institutions that are operating extensively. Active efforts are underway, including the work to support the Crossroads of Peace initiative that was put forward by Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasised.
The Russian co-chair of the commission also noted that in July 2024, with the assistance from the Russian Railways, the work was promptly completed to restore the flood-damaged railway between Armenia and Georgia, the only railroad linking Armenia to the rest of the world and a vital route for delivering essential goods to the country.
“All these investments and initiatives aim to boost connectivity in the Eurasian region and the South Caucasus, in particular, for integrating the Republic of Armenia into the new value chains emerging in Eurasia as well as for utilising the country’s transport and logistics potential, with unwavering respect for its sovereignty and laws,” Alexei Overchuk stressed.
Speaking about the work of Eurasian development institutions, the Deputy Prime Minister mentioned the implementation of a project to upgrade irrigation infrastructure, with mechanical irrigation replaced with gravity-fed irrigation systems, allowing for annual energy savings. Additionally, 5 main and 22 local farm canals have been restored, and the work has been completed to restore and construct farm irrigation systems in 105 localities in Armenia.
“Two weeks ago, our specialists agreed to evaluate the technical condition of eight flood-damaged bridges in Lori and Tavush. We expect the work to be promptly completed by the end of the year, with the results to be submitted to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia,” Alexei Overchuk said.
The meeting participants also highlighted the two countries’ actively advancing cooperation in the humanitarian sector.
“Today, we are signing an intergovernmental Agreement on the conditions for the operation of Russian-Armenian University in the Republic of Armenia. This is a leading university in Armenia, with more than 5,000 students taking studies under 123 educational programmes, 80 of them taught by Russian educational standards,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasised.
The educational institution’s academic and teaching personnel includes 82 doctors of science and 332 candidates of science. The university has 9 institutes, 31 departments, and 12 laboratories. The university cooperates with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Institute for System Programming of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg Polytechnic University, and other Russian scientific centres. Research projects are implemented in such areas as bioinformatics, genomic research, quantum nanophotonics, biochemistry, and biotechnology.
Work continues to ensure the opportunities for obtaining education according to Russian standards in the educational and sports complex, which includes a school for 700 students built in Yerevan as part of the Gazprom for Children social programme.
The two countries also place focus on cooperation in culture. In 2023, the support programme for Russian theatres abroad was launched, with Stanislavsky Yerevan State Russian Drama Theatre receiving financial assistance to purchase stage equipment and create new stage productions based on Russian classics. The Parajanov Moscow Theatre, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture and the Cultural Centre of the Armenian Embassy in Russia, organised a large-scale Parajanov Fest.
Bilateral cooperation in the field of creative education is also advancing. As part of the VGIK International Student Festival, 38 participating films were screened at the Russian-Armenian University.
The second Russian-Armenian Forum on Cultural Education was held in Moscow in December 2024 in order to fulfil the agreements reached at the Intergovernmental Commission’s meeting.
Cooperation is strengthening in healthcare, including as part of the annual Russian-Armenian healthcare forums. The ninth Russian-Armenian Healthcare Forum, which took place on 16 December 2024 in Yerevan, focused on the protection of maternal and child health. The expanded perinatal screening system developed and successfully applied in Russia was presented at the forum.
Russia and Armenia are developing mutual tourism. Over January-September 2024, the number of Russian tourists travelling to Armenia amounted to 715,800, while the number of Armenian travelers to Russia was 266,000.
Speaking about cooperation in multilateral formats, particularly within the Eurasian Economic Union, the Deputy Prime Minister noted that the union has grown to be a true guarantor of Armenia’s energy and food security, as well as its technological development.
“The union member countries serve as a key sales market as well as a key supplier to the Armenian market. The EAEU accounts for 56 percent of Armenia’s food exports, 80 percent of machinery and equipment exports, 67 percent of chemical exports, and 56 percent of textile exports. The EAEU also provides 72 percent of energy imports, 49 percent of precious metal imports, 38 percent of food imports, and 34 percent of timber imports. Since its accession to the Union, Armenia’s exports of industrial goods have grown 15 times, while food exports have increased fourfold. Since joining the EAEU in 2015, Armenia’s GDP per capita has grown almost 2.4 times due to the benefits of a common goods market, low prices for agricultural raw materials and energy, a convenient migration regime, and a common services market,” Alexei Overchuk said.
The meeting ended with signing a protocol of the 23rd meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia.
The parties also signed an Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Armenia on the conditions for the operation of Russian-Armenian University in the Republic of Armenia; a State Purchase Agreement for polyvalent, tissue-cultured, adsorbed, inactivated foot-and-mouth disease vaccines; an Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Armenia on the conditions for the operation of the Gazprom Armenia Educational and Sports Complex in Yerevan; and a work plan for the Russian-Armenian Business Council for 2025.
