Transport policy and key aspects of infrastructure development were considered at the 7th meeting of the Council of Heads of Authorized Transport Bodies of the Eurasian Economic Union Member States, held in Yerevan under the chairmanship of the Republic of Armenia.
The meeting discussed the results of implementing certain measures of the road map for implementing the Main Directions of Transport Policy for the period 2021-2023. The Council of Heads adopted relevant decisions regarding conceptual approaches to preparing the Union's regulatory framework in the field of civil aviation and synchronizing procedures for registration and issuance of special permits for international road transport along the Eurasian transport corridors.
Besides, Arzybek Kozhoshev, EEC Minister in charge of Energy and Infrastructure, informed on preparing the draft road map for 2024-2026 and proposed to harmonize certain paragraphs of the document. “I believe we will be able to reach consensus on the unagreed paragraphs of the document. It is extremely important to approve it at the next meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council", Arzybek Kozhoshev emphasized.
The parties agreed to include in the road map some measures to build up a draft concept for developing container transportation in the Union Member States until 2035, as well as to develop cooperation in the field of science and education. A high-level meeting is scheduled to be held in the second half of June 2024 to address persisting differences on establishing and functioning of a common market for air transport services within the Union.
The Council of Heads also adopted important decisions on the mechanism and model for managing the Eurasian transport corridors. The initiative of Arzybek Kozhoshev, Head of the Council of Heads and EEC Minister in charge of Energy and Infrastructure, on the Commission's involvement in the work of the coordinating bodies operating under the Agreement on the North-South international transport corridor and the Agreement on the coordinated development of the CIS international transport corridors was supported.
As for implementing the Agreement on using navigation seals in the EAEU, the experience of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation in conducting an experiment on using navigation seals in respect of certain categories of goods was taken into account.
At the invitation of the Council of Heads, Yaroslav Mandron, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Development Bank, took part in the meeting. He informed on the EDB's work on financing transportation projects in the EAEU countries.
The Council of Heads discussed conceptual approaches to further work on the Shipping Agreement and took into account the information of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation on simplifying the decision-making procedure for issuing permits for the passage of vessels on inland waterways of Russia.
Furthermore, representatives of the EAEU transport agencies got acquainted with the progress of the project on information support of transport (automobile) control at the EAEU external border. A report was also given on the work of the Aviation Safety Expert Group and the Flight Safety Expert Group in 2023 and their objectives for 2024. Both Groups were established at the Council of Heads as specialized platforms for the industry to exchange experiences and generate proposals.
“We see great significance in the in-person format of our work. This increases the efficiency of the negotiation process, including for the coordination of controversial issues “here and now”. Finally, it makes it possible to reduce the decision-making time,” Arzybek Kozhoshev noted.
At the next meeting the Council of Heads will consider relevant areas of interaction. The Council of Heads members should send their proposals to the EEC by August 31.
In conclusion, the meeting attendees expressed their gratitude to the officials of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia for the warm welcome and high level of the event's organization.