Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the extended session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan.

Before the start of the session, the heads of governments of EAEU member states participated in the ceremony of issuing stamps dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Prime Minister Pashinyan made a speech at the extended session, in which he specifically stated:

"Dear members of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council,
dear participants of the session,

First, I want to thank our Kyrgyz colleagues and Akilbek Zhaparov for the traditional warm hospitality and for organizing today's event at a high level.

I sincerely greet the heads of governments of the member and observer countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the participants and guests of today's meeting.

Undoubtedly, the intergovernmental council meeting is an excellent opportunity to continue the exchange of ideas on several issues and develop mutually acceptable solutions to minimize the challenges to the global economy that have gained unprecedented scale and depth in recent months.

Despite the global economic transformations and significant shocks in financial systems, a specific positive trend is observed in trade and economic relations due to the advantages of Eurasian integration.

In this context, I should mention that in the first half of 2022, Armenia's economy has ensured a significant increase in the volume of mutual trade with EAEU countries. During that period, mutual trade with EAEU countries increased by 52.5 percent compared to the same period in 2021. It amounted to 1.7 billion USD, while Armenia's exports to EAEU countries increased by 48.9 percent and imports by 54.2 percent.

I should mention that the growth rate of exports in mutual trade is higher than the growth rate of exports of Armenian products to third countries. I am confident that further cooperation will be no less effective, including implementing new initiatives.

There is one more issue to which I would like to draw the attention of my colleagues. Due to the changes in the Union's foreign trade structure in recent months, there have been significant deviations in the distribution of customs duties. Based on this, we consider it necessary to return to the discussion of the issue of approval of the unified methodology for issuing shares shortly.