The Eurasian Economic Commission is set to discuss Armenia’s application in October over Russian restrictions affecting goods of Armenian origin. Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan said any decision on the matter will require consensus.
According to RFE/RL, Armenia’s Economy Ministry has asked the EEC to recognize the current restrictions on the movement of Armenian-origin goods within the Eurasian Economic Union as a barrier. No information has been released on whether similar complaints were filed in previous years, but this is the first time such an application has been publicly disclosed.
Papoyan said some cases at the EEC can be decided, for example, by eight votes in favor and two against. In this case, however, unanimous agreement is needed. If even one country objects or uses its veto, the decision will not pass.
The Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission has 10 members, with two representatives from each member state. It is chaired by former Kazakh Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev. Armenia is represented by Gohar Barseghyan and former Deputy Economy Minister Varos Simonyan. That means Russia’s consent would also be required for any decision, even though it is the country that imposed the restrictions.
The minister also said other submissions have been filed with the EEC in recent months, and one of them has already produced a decision in recent days. In a separate case concerning certificates rather than restrictions, he said, the EAEU Commission recognized one of Russia’s actions as a barrier by eight votes to two. Still, that ruling is not final because the prime ministers have the final say.
Russia began imposing restrictions on Armenian goods ahead of the June parliamentary elections. The list of affected products has been expanded periodically since then. Although Armenian officials had expressed confidence months ago that the issue would be resolved, the situation remained unchanged even after the Pashinyan-Putin meeting in early September.
