Council of Permanent Plenipotentiary Representatives of CIS Member Nations Met in Minsk for its Regular Meeting

On 30 July, a regular meeting of the Council of Permanent Plenipotentiary Representatives of the CIS Member Nations at the Statutory and other Bodies of the Commonwealth was held in Minsk.

Permanent Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian Federation at the Statutory and other Bodies of the Commonwealth Andrei Grozov spoke at the meeting about the progress in implementing the Concept of Russia’s Chairmanship in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Action Plan for its implementation for the first half of the year.

He noted that about 80 events of various levels out of about 150 planned, including meetings of the Council of CIS Foreign Ministers in Minsk on 12 April and the Council of the CIS Heads of Government in Ashgabat on 24 May, have been held since then.

According to him, two meetings of the CIS Economic Council and the CIS International Economic Forum were held in March and June in the sphere of trade and economic cooperation. As part of the implementation of the CIS Economic Development Strategy until 2030, the expansion of the use of national currencies in mutual settlements, interaction of national payment card systems, organization of independent channels for exchange of financial information are being worked out.

This year, the Agreement on Free Trade in Services, Establishment, Activity, and Implementation of Investment of 8 June 2023 entered into force for Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The Action Plan for Optimizing Infrastructure and Developing International Transport Corridors Passing through the Territories of the CIS Member Nations for the Period up to 2030, the Concept of Cooperation in the Energy Sector until 2035 and the Plan of Priority Measures for its Implementation were approved. At Russia's initiative, work is under way on a draft Declaration on Cooperation in Ensuring Energy Security.

Under the Russian chairmanship, meetings of the CIS Human Rights Commission and the CIS Commission of Commissioners for Children's Rights (Ombudsmen) took place in the first half of the year.

He also stressed that Russia pays increased attention to the countering the falsification of history and the glorification of Nazism, and regularly makes proposals and supports joint statements on good round figures and important milestones.

Members of the Council of Permanent Plenipotentiary Representatives of the CIS Member Nations at the Statutory and other Bodies of the Commonwealth also agreed on the candidacy of First Deputy Secretary General of the CIS Leonid Anfimov as Head of the CIS Observer Mission to the snap elections to the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan, scheduled for 1 September 2024.

The IPA CIS international observer group will be part of the CIS observer mission. First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Andrey Yatskin was appointed as the coordinator of the IPA CIS international observer group.

The next meeting of the Council of the CIS Permanent Plenipotentiary Representatives to the Statutory and other Bodies of the Commonwealth is scheduled for 27 August.

Representative of the Secretariat of the IPA CIS Council at the CIS Executive Committee Igor Borovko took part in the meeting.

Photo: cis.minsk.by