Wednesday, 1 June 2005
The delegation headed by Prime Minister A. Margaryan on a working visit to Georgia arrived in Tbilisi this June the 1st to take part in the meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of Government to be held in the Georgian capital from June 2 to June 3. The delegation is comprised of Minister, Chief of Government Staff Mr. Manouk Topouzyan, RA Permanent Representative in the CIS Statutory and Other Bodies Mr. Souren Haroutunyan, RA Permanent Representative in the Commission for Economic Affairs of the CIS Economic Council Mr. Artak Vardanyan, RA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Gegham Gharibjanyan, heads of units from the government staff and the ministry of foreign affairs and other dignitaries.
Shortly after the arrival, the delegation went to the Office of Georgian Government where Mr. A. Margaryan had an over an hour-long private talk with his Georgian counterpart Mr. Zourab Noghaideli.
The two prime ministers expressed their satisfaction with the recent activation of bilateral contacts which, according to them, helped promote trade relations between Armenia and Georgia. They mentioned the fruitful work carried out by the Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental commission for economic affairs and went on to review the current status of the decisions taken at the third meeting of the commission held on June 26, 2004. The next meeting of the intergovernmental commission was decided to hold in September. Mr. A. Margaryan said to be pleased with the fact that an active dialog was maintained on the settlement of Georgia's foreign debt to Armenia in result of which an understanding had been reached about the restructuring of the debt. The Prime Minister also mentioned that Armenia had already given an exhaustive answer to the Georgian side on the transit of gas from Turkmenistan in 1993-1995, according to which no financial matters had been left unsettled either with the Georgian or the Turkmen side. During the meeting, arrangements were made to further the cooperation in the field of energy. The prime ministers have discussed in detail the construction of a new Armenia-Georgia high-voltage electricity transmission line. Mr. Noghaideli reiterated Georgia's interest regarding its involvement in the construction of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, to which Mr. A. Margaryan replied that the project was at the first stage of implementation and the Armenian side saw no hindrances to holding discussions on this matter with the Georgian side in future.
The two prime ministers have also discussed the issue of ensuring a clear demarcation of State borders between Armenia and Georgia. The next meeting of the relevant joint commissions was decided to hold in November with the above issue at the focus of the meeting agenda. Concerning the transport-related problems, a keen interest was expressed on either side for a possibly expedited re-commissioning of the Abkhazian stretch of the Georgian railway, which was said to be mutually advantageous from an economic standpoint.
The Parties have also referred to the problems faced by the Armenian community in Georgia and those of the Armenians living in Javakhk, in particular. Mr. Zourab Noghaideli reiterated the willingness of the Georgian government to embark upon a program of improving the social and economic status of Samtzkheh-Javakheti region. The two prime ministers agreed to hold their next working meeting in Javakhk this July or August indicatively. Satisfied with the willingness expressed on the part of Mr. A. Margaryan for an eventual cooperation in the matters concerning the implementation of the Javakhk economic rehabilitation program, Mr. Noghaideli mentioned that a number of issues such as the construction or refurbishment of roads and schools and other questions as well could well be discussed at the next working meeting due in Javakhk. During the meeting, Prime Minister A. Margaryan expressed confidence that the Georgian authorities would pay due attention to the issue of conservation of those Armenian monuments of historical and cultural value situated on the territory of Georgia. A separate working group was decided to set up on the Armenian side to explore the legal environment in Georgia and, based on the findings of the study, submit proposals on the ways to problem solution.
Prime Minister A. Margaryan is scheduled to meet with Speaker of Georgian Parliament Nino Bourjanadze tomorrow, after which the visit will proceed along the lines set for the program of the meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of Government.
