Tavricheskiy Palace Hosted Meeting of IPA CIS Council

On 15 April 2021, the meeting of the IPA CIS Council took place in a mixed format.

Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko opened the event. She greeted her colleagues and expressed hope that the next, autumn, session of the IPA CIS would be held fully in person.

The meeting was also attended by Speaker of the Milli Mejlis of the Azerbaijan Republic Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbayev, Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Talant Mamytov, Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Zinaida Greceanii and Speaker of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva. Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Natalya Kochanova and Speaker of the Majlisi namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan Mahmadtoir Zoir Zokirzoda took part in the event via videoconferencing.

Chairperson of the Executive Committee – CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev briefed the meeting participants on the decisions of the Council of the CIS Heads of State dated 6 November 2020 and 18 December 2020.

Further, the MPs discussed the results of observing the election campaigns that took place on 10 January 2021: the early elections of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic and the referendum to determine the form of government of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as the elections to the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Continuing the topic of election observation, the MPs discussed the activities of the International Institute for Monitoring Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations (IPA CIS IIMDD). Valentina Matvienko recalled that the institute was established 15 years ago and noted that the past years had confirmed the correctness and timeliness of such a decision.

Deputy Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat – Director of the IIMDD IPA CIS Ivan Mushket presented a report in which he noted the main achievements of the Institute.

Furthermore, the Council members discussed the preparations for the Ninth Nevsky International Ecological Congress and the Third Eurasian Women's Forum. Information on these issues was presented by Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Federation Council on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management Elena Zlenko and First Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Federation Council on the Budget and Financial Markets Elena Perminova.

Chair of the IPA CIS Expert Advisory Board on Economy, Rector of St. Petersburg State University of Economics Igor Maksimtsev made a report on the activities of the IPA CIS Expert Advisory Board on Economy and the tasks of implementing 2030 CIS Strategy on Economic Growth.

Also at the meeting, the composition of the Board of Experts on Science and Education, established at the IPA CIS in 2020, was approved. According to the Chair of the Permanent Commission on Science and Education, Chair of the Committee of the Federation Council on Science, Education and Culture Lilia Gumerova, the nominations were made by the IPA CIS parliaments, the CIS Executive Committee and the IPA CIS Council Secretariat. Rector of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrei Rudskoy was appointed the Chair of the Board of Experts on Science and Education.

Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy presented a report on organizational issues.

The meeting ended with a solemn part. Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Zinaida Greceanii was awarded the Order of the Interparliamentary Assembly “Commonwealth”, Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbayev and Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Talant Mamytov were awarded the Medal of the Interparliamentary Assembly “For strengthening parliamentary cooperation”.