Armenia has appealed Russian restrictions on imports of Armenian goods and expects them to be lifted through mechanisms available within the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union, Armenian Deputy Economy Minister Tigran Gasparyan said on Tuesday.
“Not only our contacts with Russia are important, but also our possibilities within the EEU,” Gasparyan told reporters, saying Armenia was actively using EEU mechanisms to remove what he described as trade barriers.
Asked whether Russia’s claims of violations by Armenian exporters were entirely unfounded, Gasparyan said the restrictions, in Armenia’s view, do not comply with the agreements and principles governing the EEU.
“We are trying to use EEU tools to restore principles,” he said.
Russia began imposing restrictions in May on imports of various Armenian goods, including agricultural produce, fish products, beverages, dairy products and cut flowers. The restrictions came amid Armenia’s growing economic and political ties with the West, particularly the European Union.
They followed two European summits held in Yerevan, during which Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reaffirmed his government’s intention to seek Armenia’s eventual EU membership.
During a visit to Yerevan in early July, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would open its highly regulated market to Armenian agricultural products.
Moscow has said Armenia’s aspirations to deepen ties with the EU are incompatible with its membership in the EEU, which also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
At a September 1 meeting with Pashinyan in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin again called for a referendum in Armenia on whether the country should remain in the EEU or seek EU membership.
Pashinyan has repeatedly rejected Moscow’s calls for such a referendum, saying that while Armenia seeks to diversify its political and trade relations, including with Brussels, it sees no urgent need for a formal vote at this stage. He told Putin in Bishkek that the issue was “not yet mature enough” to be put to a referendum.
The Armenian government has described the Russian trade restrictions as unreasonable and contrary to EEU rules. Pashinyan has repeatedly urged Armenian businesses to use the restrictions as an opportunity to diversify their export markets.
