Russian restrictions on Armenian goods: Eurasian Commission postpones its review again
- Published
- Place
- Moscow, Russia
- Event date
- Past event —
Summary
The session of the Eurasian Economic Commission’s board devoted to Russian restrictions on Armenian products, scheduled for 10 November, has been postponed again. It is the second postponement in a week. Armenia’s economy ministry confirmed it but refused to say why, or at whose initiative. No new date has been announced. Yerevan appealed to the Commission in September to have the bans imposed by Moscow since the start of the year recognised as “trade barriers”: agricultural products, fish, flowers and a number of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, including in transit. The first review, scheduled for 3 November, had already been pushed back by a week at Armenia’s request.
The case is one of the most concrete in Armenian-Russian relations. It directly affects producers and exporters for whom Russia remains a major market. And it is moving slowly.
On 2 November, Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan himself announced the first postponement. “The session was due to take place on 3 November, but at our initiative the review has been postponed by one week,” he told reporters in parliament. On the reasons: “I cannot say now. It would be wrong; it is a working process.” According to the daily Zhoghovurd, he said the delay resulted from an agreement with the Commission’s relevant minister.
What Yerevan is asking for
Armenia wants the Commission to use the Eurasian Economic Union’s mechanisms to have the restrictions lifted. On 21 October, Gevorg Papoyan explained that if they were recognised as trade barriers, the country applying them would have to remove them within thirty days.
The minister also warned that a decision against Armenia would set “a dangerous precedent” for all member states. “If the other member countries see no problem in the restrictions applied to us, they will have to wait their turn,” he said in early November.
A trade dispute turned political
Since the start of the year, Moscow has banned the import and transit across the Union’s territory of several categories of Armenian products. At the same time, Russia is demanding that Yerevan hold a referendum to choose between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union.
The Armenian government, for its part, presents the matter as an economic dispute. It has raised to around 15 billion drams the subsidies meant to help exporters find other markets. On 6 November, Gevorg Papoyan estimated that leaving the Union could on its own cut growth by around 0.65 percentage points. Nikol Pashinyan, meanwhile, repeats that Armenia does not intend to leave the EAEU.
A consensus rule
One fundamental obstacle remains, highlighted by the Armenian press: decisions of this kind are taken by consensus. The agreement of Russia, the target of the complaint, would therefore be needed. The ministry has not commented on this point.
Analysis
Two postponements, two silences. The first came from Yerevan; the second has no known author. This discretion may hide direct negotiations with Moscow, or a search for support among the other members ahead of an uncertain vote. Nothing allows a conclusion either way. For Armenian exporters, the result is the same: the restrictions remain in place and the timetable keeps stretching. The case is also a test for the Union itself. If its Commission cannot rule on a dispute between two members, its settlement mechanisms lose credibility.
Possible consequences
No new date has been set for the review of Armenia’s complaint. The Russian restrictions remain in force.
