Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, on a working visit.

The Prime Minister of Armenia attended the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council’s regular meeting at Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library in St. Petersburg. The meeting was attended by President Alexander Lukashenko of the Republic of Belarus, President Sooronbai Zheenbekov of the Kyrgyz Republic, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, Supreme Eurasian Economic Council Honorary President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Eurasian Economic Commission Board Chairman Tigran Sargsyan. Moldova’s President Igor Dodon was in attendance as head of observer country.

The Eurasian Economic Union’s development agenda and the prospects for cooperation were discussed during narrow and expanded-format sessions. The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council endorsed the nomination of Mikhail Myasnikovich as Eurasian Economic Commission Board Chairman. Incumbent Board Chairman Tigran Sargsyan will be in office until February 1, 2020. The meeting approved the new composition of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission and decided that Belarus should take over the presidency of the Eurasian Economic Union in 2020. The decision will come into force on January 1, 2020.

Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Pashinyan stated:
“Dear Colleagues,

Greetings to you all! In fact, we are ending the year with a good mood. I would like to stress that we have reached a consensus on all agenda items. We can already move on to signing the documents, and I think it is a good sign and a very good atmosphere that we have actually agreed on all agenda items. As Armenia’s year-long presidency in the EAEU is nearing completion, I would like to thank all our partners for the work done during this time. I think that we enjoyed a pretty good, effective and fruitful presidency. I am confident that we will continue to cooperate in this spirit. Congratulating Belarus on assuming the presidency, I wish you all the best.”

President Alexander Lukashenko of the Republic of of Belarus thanked the Armenian Prime Minister for his kind remarks and best wishes. “Dear colleagues, I think you all share the opinion that we should extend a vote of thanks to the Armenian side for quite effective presidency.”

The meeting next proceeded as follows: after discussing the strategic directions for developing the Eurasian economic integration by 2025, the heads of EAEU-member states signed the agreement on EAEU-member state citizens’ pension guarantees. The Member States approved the EAEU directive on lifting the barriers to domestic market operations, and the directive on implementing service liberalization programs. Decisions were passed on amending the EAEC’s working regulations and approving the action plan for forming a common electricity market.

In conclusion, it was decided to hold the next meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in May, 2020 in Belarus.