Armenia’s former Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian, who currently serves as the country’s ambassador to the United States, will be appointed head of the Eurasian Economic Commission next year, it emerged on Friday.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, who was, along with his opposite numbers from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, attending a summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in the Kazakh village of Burabay, was asked to name a candidate for the post from Armenia that is going to assume the rotating presidency in the EEU’s executive body in February.
“We have made a decision on who will be the head of our commission after February 1, after Russia’s presidency, after Viktor Khristenko,” Russian Interfax news agency quoted Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka as saying in addressing Sarkisian. “Please, tell us the name of Armenia’s representative.”
“Sargsian Tigran Surenovich, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia,” replied Sarkisian.
Lukashenka stressed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had approved the candidacy of Tigran Sargsian, who headed the Armenian government in 2008-2014 and before that served as governor of the Central Bank of Armenia. He was appointed Armenia’s ambassador to the United States in July 2014.
“His [Tigran Sargsian’s] candidacy was supported by the Russian president, who worked with him. They say he is a very experienced professional,” the Belarus leader said.
At present, the head of the Eurasian Economic Commission Board is Russia’s Viktor Khristenko, while Belarus at present holds the chairmanship of the EEU.
The next summit of the Eurasian Economic Commission will be held in Moscow in December. An arrangement was made that before that a 10-member commission will be formed, with two members appointed from each country. A member of the commission by his or her status is, in fact, equivalent to an EEU minister.