Yerevan and Moscow to talk over Armenia’s participation in CIS integration

YEREVAN, October 15. /ARKA/. Yerevan and Moscow will discuss a possible format and prospects for Armenia to participate in integration processes within Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia’s Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov said. 

“I think, the integration processes in CIS open new opportunities for Armenia’s economy, and I believe, we will explore all such opportunities with our Armenian colleagues in the near future, as well as will discuss the forms of the further collaboration with the responsible integration bodies,” he added at the second Armenian-Russian interregional forum, kicked off in Yerevan on Saturday. 

Sokolov clarified that a free trade zone agreement in CIS, ratified by Armenia, will become effective in a couple of days.

Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Ukraine signed CIS Free Trade Zone Agreement on October 18, 2011. Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, on their side, made a decision to further discuss and evaluate the agreement. 

The agreement will ensure all the necessary conditions for effective operation of free trade within the CIS space as well as will foster the further integration based on the norms of the World Labor Organization. 

Sokolov also underlined the importance of a single economic space formation between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

“In a perspective, it will be a single market, with single economic and legal norms, ensuring free mobility of people, goods, capital,” Minister highlighted. 

A number of agreements are expected to be signed within the forum, such as on cooperation between Vayots Dzor region of Armenia and Russia’s Arkhangelsk region, Armenia’s Lori and South Caucasus Railway cjsc. 

After the plenary session the forum participants will go on with discussions in front of the round table. 

The first Armenian-Russian interregional forum was held in Yerevan on April 18-20, 2011.

A number of agreements were reached following the forum, including the memorandum signed between SCR and Armenia’s government on launching a construction of a 32-km segment of Vanadzor-Fioletovo railway. -0-