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At November 4 joint sitting of the NA Standing Committees on Regional and Eurasian Integration and on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs, the RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan spoke about the activities of the structure headed by him and the upcoming programmes.

The Minister has referred to the logistics problems of our country which is due to the blockade. He presented the upcoming action plan: the first is to connect the railway system of Armenia to the railway system of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEU). From the beginning of the year, there were discussions with the Russian and European freight companies. A draft is ready, which will be presented to the Government for the discussion in the near future. It envisages regular ferry communication between the ports of Poti and Port Kavkaz. It will allow our railway system to connect to the Eurasian railway system, to increase the competitiveness of the economy, to improve logistics opportunities not only with the Russian Federation (RF), but also with Belarus and Kazakhstan.

According to Vahan Kerobyan, bilateral economic agenda is formed with Russia which includes investment programmes. The Minister singled out the issue of creating copper smelting clusters which is under discussion. There is a cooperation with the Russian railways in the project of operating the Yerevan-Tbilisi high-speed train. The Minister has informed that work is carried out with associations of RF free economic zones on the issue of logistics parks. 3 industrial zones should be created by the Government programme until 2026. They will be in Gyumri, Ararat and Syunik. The industrial zone in Ararat will be envisaged for the Iranian companies, and in Gyumri – for the EEU and European countries.