EAEU members have no clear approach to common energy market development - Pashinyan

YEREVAN. Feb 2 (Interfax) - The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) do not have a joint approach to creating and developing a common energy market, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.

"Despite the planned launch of common gas, oil and petroleum product markets in 2025, the member states obviously do not have a clear joint approach to creating and developing a common energy market," Pashinyan said at a Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting in Almaty on Friday.

"I have no doubt that the common energy market will give a number of major advantages to all EAEU member states without exception by facilitating their sustainable economic growth, boosting the welfare of the population, and strengthening energy security," he said.

The dialogue between EAEU member states should aim for compromise, Pashinyan said.

He welcomed the intensified work on joint mutually advantageous projects planned and implemented in furtherance of the current EAEU transport agenda, which will have a positive effect on inter-regional economic cooperation and will broaden trade and economic contacts.

Armenia's trade with other EAEU members grew almost 40% in 2023, Pashinyan said.

"An analysis of key economic figures and the initial level of interaction between member states shows that the EAEU members are on the path of sustainable economic growth. Trade between Armenia and other EAEU members grew 39% year-on-year to approximately $7.8 billion in 2023. Out of that amount, exports grew 40.8%, and imports increased by 37.5%," Pashinyan said.

Stronger sectoral cooperation, establishing new business contacts, and transborder trade in digital services and data exchange should be viewed as EAEU priorities at this stage, he said.

"The EAEU already has the institutional environment for developing a common digital area, but we believe that the smooth operation of common processes for information exchange between member states and the gradual transition of the EAEU integrated information system to a more advanced and effective model of digital interaction will require separate analysis and thorough consideration," Pashinyan said.

The timely, uninterrupted exchange of information will solve a sizeable share of the problems arising in the movement of goods and services inside the EAEU, and at a minimum will remove a large part of administrative barriers, exceptions and restrictions on the internal market, Pashinyan said.