The meeting took place in Irkutsk.
The Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia held its 37th meeting.
The meeting took place in Irkutsk and was co-chaired by the respective heads of the Russian and Armenian chapters, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Yury Vorobyov and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan.
The meeting focused on cooperation between Russia and Armenia in research and education.
Yury Vorobyov noted that Russian and Armenian educational institutions are currently involved in more than 38 joint projects, with around 100 forms of collaboration between Russian and Armenian researchers and around 70 bilateral agreements concerning research. “Today, there are three branches of Russian universities in Armenia, and the Russian-Armenian State University. More than 2,000 Armenian students study at Russian universities. The quota for Armenian students grows annually and will continue to increase,” he said.
Yury Vorobyov named the joint postgraduate study programme of Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University and the Russian-Armenian State University, launched in 2021, as an example of successful cooperation between higher education institutions. The Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia are bound by an agreement on cooperation in research. The agreement’s roadmap includes around 60 joint projects and research activities such as the comprehensive environmental and biological assessment of the current state of Lake Sevan for the purposes of protection and efficient use of water resources.
The Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council noted the Armenia-Russia Research and Education Forum in Yerevan as one of this year’s important events for the two countries. “It was the first bilateral event attended by representatives of leading universities and research institutions from Russia and Armenia. The forum focused on cooperation at all levels of education, in applied and fundamental science and in the humanities. We hope that the forum will become an annual expert platform for sharing opinions and expertise,” Yury Vorobyov said.
The Russian Senator stressed that research and education constitute a substantial part of the humanitarian area of bilateral relations. “We confirm the importance of consolidating a common educational, research and language space for our countries. As per our leaders’ agreement, we began the construction of four Russian-language schools in Armenia, supervised by the Russian-Armenian Interparliamentary Commission and a special bilateral working group,” he said.
The Senator announced that the Russian Government had allocated 35 million roubles to purchase more than 60,000 textbooks for Armenian schools. “The Federation Council has long been engaged in this project as instructed by Speaker Valentina Matvienko, in cooperation with the Federal Agency for the CIS Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) and the Russian Finance Ministry.”
Yury Vorobyov also spoke about region-to-region cooperation, which is a traditional priority of the commission. “A delegation from the Krasnoyarsk Territory took part in the previous meeting in March, held in Tsaghkadzor. The meeting produced a memorandum between the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Tavush Region of Armenia.
The Senator thanked Governor of the Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev for his help with organising the latest meeting of the commission and the region’s direct contribution to the development of interregional ties with Armenia.
In his remarks, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan emphasised the importance of strengthening bilateral ties and the role of national communities in the development of interregional and humanitarian cooperation. “We support Armenians living in Russia and Russians living in Armenia and cherish our relations. We will do our utmost to develop a dynamic dialogue between our regions. We are open to any initiatives,” Hakob Arshakyan said.
The meeting participants also included Russian senators Dmitry Kuzmin, Alexander Karelin and Andrei Chernyshev, members of the State Duma, Governor of the Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Konstantin Mogilevsky, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia Artur Martirosyan and representatives of the academic and expert communities of the two countries.
The Irkutsk Region and Armenia’s Kotayk Region signed a cooperation agreement following the meeting. The parties will cooperate in trade and the economy, and on cultural and humanitarian issues. Irkutsk and the community of Armavir, Armavir Region, also signed a memorandum of cooperation.
In the run-up to the meeting of the Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Russian and Armenian parliament members met with the Armenian community in the Irkutsk Region.
“Working with communities is the focus of our interparliamentary activities. We have a dedicated expert council consisting of members of the Armenian community. This format produces quite good results. For example, the expert council recently presented a promising cooperation project. Our job is to make sure that our peoples enjoy a strong friendship as our fathers and grandfathers taught us,” Yury Vorobyov said in summary.
The parliament members also attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Eternal Flame of Glory and commemorated the memory of fallen soldiers with a minute of silence.