Wednesday, 26 September 2007
In anticipation of the meeting, the Prime Minister made a record in the Guests Book of Moscow Mayoralty.
"The Armenian-Russian relations are the natural continuation and the result of those centuries-long traditional ties between our two peoples based on spiritual affinities and common interest.
It is my sincere pleasure to note the highly efficient cooperation between the governments of Armenia and Moscow, the town hall of Yerevan and the Mayoralty of Moscow, as well as the significant contribution they make to the development of relationship between our two countries.
I wish further success to the Government of Moscow and the Mayoralty of Moscow with their efforts to the benefit of residents of Moscow and towards the development of our allied relations."
During his talks with Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, speaking about the highly developed Armenian-Russian bilateral relations, the Prime Minister said that the broadly diversified cooperation between the governments of Armenia and Moscow, as well as the town hall of Yerevan and the Mayoralty of Moscow, played a key role in the furtherance of these ties. He said that it has always been a pleasure for him to state that the Armenian-Russian relations were on the upgrade and that the economic cooperation was catching up with the high standard of the political ties.
Welcoming the guests, Yuri Luzhkov mentioned in turn that as a reflection of the strategic partnership between our two countries, the Russian-Armenian linkages have been developing year after year to grow into a more practical interaction proceeding from merely educational and cultural exchanges. According to him, while investments have been growing in the recent period, nevertheless, commercial ties need greater focus. "Once you see the broad range of the Armenian products available in Yerevan, you can realize that they are susceptible to be in great demand and have a well-deserved place across Moscow'
s sales outlets,"- Yuri Luzhkov has said. In order to promote the sales of the Armenian products, he emphasized the establishment of wholesale markets, which may affect favorably the level of trade turnover between the two countries as well. The Mayor of Moscow similarly prioritized the development of cooperation in the sphere of construction. Yuri Luzhkov informed the RA Prime Minister that migration-related issues were being actively discussed at the Moscow Government, including, in particular, the possibility of providing better working and living conditions to those people coming to the Russian capital from abroad in search of employment.RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, too, expressed opinion that despite the growing trade turnover indicators, still they appeared to be insufficient considering the huge development potential inherent therein. He said to be pleased with the ongoing efforts aimed at improving transport communications between Armenia and Russia as they may be the key to enhanced economic exchanges between our two countries. The Prime Minister agreed with Mr. Luzhkov in that Armenian products still failed to be duly represented on Russia
's marketplaces. In this context, he emphasized the need of expanding the cooperation between Armenia's marzes and Russian regions, inclusive of Moscow and Yerevan, as well as between individual urban districts of the two capitals.The head of the Armenian government expressed confidence that the 2005-2007 cooperation program between the executive authorities of Yerevan and Moscow would take bilateral relations to a new qualitative level and, in this context, emphasized the arrangement reached over the preparation of the 2008-2011 cooperation program.
Serzh Sargsyan emphasized the importance of the recently opened Moscow
's House in Yerevan and Yerevan's House in Moscow that might facilitate further expansion of the existing multifaceted ties between the two cities.The Prime Minister also spoke about the humanitarian cooperation which was said to have been especially active over the past two years. According to him, this was largely promoted by the celebrations of Russia
's Year in Armenia and vice versa.Considering the historically close spiritual and cultural linkages between our two peoples, as well as the immense research potential available in the Russian Federation and Moscow, in particular, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan said that Armenia was prepared to continue promoting our bilateral cultural, educational, informational and scientific ties.
In conclusion, Serzh Sargsyan thanked Yuri Luzhkov for the possibility of building another Armenian church in Moscow.
Following the meeting with the Mayor of Moscow, Serzh Sargsyan visited the site of the new Armenian Church in Moscow and, accompanied by Primate of Russia and Nor-Nakhichevan Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Bishop Yezras Nercisian, got a first-hand view of the pace of engineering work.
Then, the Armenian delegation came back to Armenia'
s Embassy where the Prime Minister met with Secretary General of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Nikolay Bordyuzha, Secretary General of Eurasian Economic Commonwealth (EURASEC) Grigory Rapota, Head of Federal Atomic Energy Agency Sergey Kirienko.During these meetings, the parties have discussed a broad range of issues regarding the cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, as well as the possibilities for the development of interaction in the frameworks of the CSTO and EURASEC.
Later today, the Prime Minister-led RA government delegation will be back to Yerevan.
