Today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with the Republic of Belarus Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko. He arrived in Armenia to participate in the work of the session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council to be held in Yerevan on October 20-21. Welcoming the Prime Minister of Belarus, Pashinyan noted.

"Dear Roman Alexander, dear colleagues, I welcome you to the Republic of Armenia, and I am pleased about this meeting. Armenia and Belarus are partners, and we participate in several formats. The Eurasian Economic Union is one of the leading platforms where we cooperate.

Of course, the role of the Eurasian Economic Union is growing now because, as we all know, the world is in difficult economic times. I must mention that our mechanisms in the Eurasian Economic Union are sometimes quite helpful in such situations.

I must say, and we have talked about it many times, that every crisis brings difficulties and new opportunities. In this context, I should note that, for example, the trade turnover between Armenia and Belarus has almost doubled in the current year. Of course, the overall scale is not so big. Still, a perfect dynamic is observed, and I hope that as a result of our meetings and negotiations, we will manage to maintain this economic dynamic. Of course, we are interested in this matter, and I hope we will have more and more joints that will be competently prepared and benefit both Belarus and Armenia, our business, and our citizens.

I greet you again and am very happy to see you."

In turn, the Prime Minister of Belarus said:

"Dear Nikol Vovai, dear colleagues, I am thrilled to be in Armenia today, in Yerevan, within the framework of the session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council and to meet with you to discuss the results of our cooperation briefly.

Indeed, the historical ties that unite our peoples are strong and have successfully stood the test. I fully agree and share your assessment of the current stage of our trade, economic and political relations.

Dear Nikol Vovai, in principle, in recent years, if we call it that, we have moved forward quite well, and if we count from the mid-2000s, we have increased the turnover several times. It has grown another 100 percent in just eight months of this year. It is especially gratifying that foreign trade is balanced; Belarusian exports to Armenia and Armenian exports to Belarus are growing. Investments are growing, and it is also bilateral. The number of enterprises registered in Armenia with Belarusian capital and in Belarus with Armenian capital increased.

This perfectly reflects that we are working actively and effectively at different levels. And business feels these impulses, which are also communicated to the political class, and the tools we have are also practical. The intergovernmental commission meeting for trade and economic cooperation was recently held. It has been quite successful; the partners have reached obvious agreements on various issues. That is why, dear Nicole Vovai, I am sure we will achieve better results. In our opinion, it is now essential to move from simple trade, export-import to more serious projects."

Nikol Pashinyan and Roman Golovchenko exchanged ideas on the agenda and development prospects of Armenian-Belarusian relations. The possibilities of expanding trade and economic ties and implementing joint projects were discussed. Several issues of interaction in the bilateral format and within the framework of Eurasian integration processes were addressed.