Armenian Parliament speaker receives Belarus Ambassador

On September 10, Armenian Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan received Igor Nazaruk, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to Armenia, the Parliament press-office said.

Welcoming the newly appointed Ambassador in the Republic of Armenia, Galust Sahakyan congratulated him on the occasion of his appointment and wished him effective work, expressing hope that he will promote the activation of cooperation of the two countries' parliaments and the partnership on international platforms.

The speaker hailed the developing cooperation between Armenia and Belarus in the cultural and economic fields.  Galust Sahakyan expressed his support to Ambassador Igor Nazaruk in the implementation of joint projects in Armenia by the Embassy, expressing confidence that the projects will enhance the Armenian-Belarusian bilateral relations.  Thanking for the warm reception Igor Nazaruk, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus assured that he would do his best to develop and strengthen the bilateral relations in different fields.  In the course of the meeting, the sides also touched upon the process of the constitutional reforms, the presidential election to be held in Belarus and other issues of bilateral interest.

The two countries established diplomatic relations on June 12 1993. The Armenian Embassy in Minsk opened in 1993. The commodity turnover between Armenia and Belarus for Jan-Dec 2014 totaled about 40,068.0 thousand USD versus 49,436.4 thousand USD in 2013 - an 81.0% year over year growth.  Armenia imports mainly cars, tractors, construction and agricultural equipment, spare parts, drugs, matches, plastic items, tires, wooden construction materials, cable, pipe, textile, and pumps, and exports alcohol drinks, mineral water, chemicals, electric equipment, transformers.