Armenia positively views the results of the first year of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) work, the country’s trade representative in the Russian Federation Karen Asoyan said at the opening ceremony of the Eurasian Economic Congress on Tuesday, TASS reports.

“In Armenia we’re thoroughly analyzing the results of our membership – both in the government and in business,” Asoyan said. “Our enterprises mainly speak about positive results. Many formalities concerning customs processing in particular, which are related to costs, are gone as the trade regime with the Union’s states, Armenia’s main partners, has become more open,” the trade representative said.

He added though that there are some issues still in place. “The mechanism of VAT recovery hasn’t been solved yet, which to some extend is restraining trade. This impacts trade (flows) from Russia to Armenia as well. Hopefully, the Eurasian Economic Commission will somehow solve the issue in the nearest future,” Asoyan said.

Among major trends he mentioned more joint ventures being created by Russian and Armenian enterprises after the country joined the bloc. “Russian tourist flow to Armenia has increased and developed,” he added.

The trade representative also noted the importance of participation of the Eurasian Economic Union in formation of the Silk Road economic belt. “It would be important to construct a railroad from Iran to Armenia and reconstruct the railroad between Armenia and Russia,” he said, adding that “this will allow creation of the shortest efficient way of supplying goods from the Persian Gulf countries to the EEU member-states.”.