Belarus has been and remains a reliable partner of Armenia. Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko made the relevant statement as he met with outgoing Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Belarus Armen Ghevondyan, BelTA has learned.

Vladimir Andreichenko said: “We sincerely regret that your diplomatic mission in Belarus is about to end. Nevertheless, a lot was accomplished during your time here. You've learned a lot about our country. I think these business and interparliamentary ties we've established will benefit your future work and will be used to not only bolster the cooperation that we have right now but build up on it. Belarus and Armenia have a lot in common. We have a common history. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 we fought together against the Nazi and participated in the post-war construction effort. And in today's complicated times our countries work in the name of our people.”

The head of the lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament noted that Belarus has been and remains a reliable partner of Armenia. “And certainly we expect Armenia to reciprocate. There is no doubt that trade and economic relations are the foundation. I should say that Belarus-Armenia trade grew well particularly in the last two years when you worked as the ambassador. Even this year despite the pandemic the bilateral trade increased by 20% in January-October. $67 million according to our statistics. It is very good,” he stressed.

Vladimir Andreichenko reminded that a Belarusian-Armenian intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation works. “The interparliamentary commission on cooperation between the National Assembly of Belarus and the National Assembly of Armenia makes its own contribution. We've held regular sessions. We've always discussed concrete matters of interparliamentary and economic interaction. I would like to say that this commission is one of the most active ones in the Belarusian parliament. This is why we expect that this avenue of our cooperation will continue actively developing with assistance of the new ambassador that will work here. I think that you will also pay attention to the work of our interparliamentary commission while working as a deputy minister of foreign affairs of Armenia. I am convinced that a lot of issues can be resolved via the commission: in economy, education, healthcare because we still have a great potential for cooperation,” the MP added.

In turn, Armen Ghevondyan thanked Vladimir Andreichenko for the high evaluation of his work. “I thank you for this evaluation and for the assistance I received from you, the parliament, and our interparliamentary commission in the two years of my work. Because all this work was built taking into account the deep ties that connect our nations, taking into account the fundamental principles of interstate interaction that are stipulated by the Belarus-Armenia friendship agreement. And naturally while paying proper attention to the interparliamentary component, we presumed that the parliament, people's representatives are the people that receive signals from the grassroots level. We've tried by all means to facilitate and advance trade, economy, interregional cooperation, and the cultural and humanitarian component. And most importantly we've tried to make contacts between people as broad, as interesting, and as versatile as possible. To the best of my ability I will provide maximum assistance to the projects, to the endeavors, and most importantly to the realization of the potential that we truly have. And we do have some potential in economy and all the other areas,” the ambassador concluded.