Distinguished Chairperson-in-Office,
Mr. Secretary General,
Ladies and gentlemen

First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sergey Viktorovich for successful Chairmanship of Russia in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and for perfect organization of this session, as well as for the hospitality. I would also like to thank the Secretariat for activity conducted between the sessions.

Mr. Chairperson-in-Office,

Being consistent in implementing the goals aimed at the development of multilateral economic cooperation in the region, Armenia continued its efforts towards the deepening of multi-sectoral interaction between the member-states.

We attach importance to the realization of the concept of, so called, inland ports within the multimodal transits. In the context of inter-regional transport systems, Armenia stands for the extension of the Black Sea Ring Highway main route to the borders with Iran, the sectoral dialogue partner of the Organization. We also support the initiatives, aimed at the development of freight and passenger ferry lines.

The Armenian experts had their input in the issues of elaborating routes for the access of BSEC small and medium entrepreneurship to the international markets, contribution to trade through internet, simplification of trade operations, harmonization of customs procedure, improvement of joint checkpoints, as well as in addressing other issues.

We welcome the signature of the “Memorandum of Understanding on Information Exchange and Cooperation in the Sphere of Quality Assurance of Medicines” between the BSEC member-states, signed by the Healthcare Ministers. At the same time, unfortunately I have to emphasize, that the BSEC member-states failed to reach a consensus on the Draft Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Sanitary Protection of the Territories of the BSEC member-states.

The Armenian side has a constructive involvement in the discussion of initiatives towards the improvement of mechanisms of cooperation between the corresponding national services in preventing and eliminating the consequences of natural disasters, early warning in case of emergency situations and establishing a network of crisis centers.

Armenia also supports the strengthening of the legal framework of cooperation in the energy field.

We hope that the results of the meeting of the Heads of National Statistical Services will give a new impetus also to the cooperation in this important field.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Armenia stands for the enhancement of the BSEC role in international arena, the expansion of cooperation with other international, regional organizations, as well as for strengthening of interaction with associate organizations, observers and sectoral dialogue partners.

Indeed, that cooperation should develop in accordance with the BSEC Charter and other fundamental documents.

We should not allow the politicization of the BSEC, its transformation into a platform for political confrontation.

Unfortunately, today we witnessed the attempts of the Azerbaijani delegation to politicize the Plenary Session for their narrow-minded propagandistic goals.

In regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, I would like to remind, that the Vienna and St. Petersburg Summits first and foremost were aimed to stabilize the situation in the conflict zone in the aftermaths of large-scale military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in April. First of all, it is a necessity to implement what was particularly emphasized and agreed upon in the frameworks of the Summits in order to create conditions for the continuation of the negotiation process; i.e. the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict, the unconditional adherence to the 1994-1995 trilateral ceasefire agreements, which have no time limitations, the creation of mechanism for the investigation of ceasefire violations, the expansion of the team of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

Mr. Chairperson-in-Office,

The issues related to the increase of the efficiency of BSEC and the activity of the Permanent International Secretariat has long been on the agenda of the Organization. Today, amid the forthcoming 25th anniversary of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation this issue has become particularly important.

At the same time, we are confident, that the full use of BSEC institutional capacity will eliminate the necessity of making amendments to the statutory documents of the Organization.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In conclusion, I would like to congratulate Serbia on assuming the Chairmanship in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and wish all the success.