On 26 March, the Moscow Regional Unit of the Union of Armenians of Russia (UAR) held a grand congress that was mainly devoted to the call of RA Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan addressed to the Armenian Diaspora.

As reported the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in the Russian Federation to Hayern Aysor, the congress began with an opening speech by Head of the Moscow Regional Unit of the UAR Shahen Petrosyan, who attached importance to the Prime Minister’s initiative and suggested that all the attendees discuss the importance of the Armenian Diaspora for Armenia’s development. He stated that even though the Armenian Diaspora had always been by the side of Armenia, the cooperation between Armenia and the Diaspora needs to grow and be expanded following the call of the Prime Minister. In his turn, Shahen Petrosyan called upon all Diaspora Armenians to pay heed to the address of the Prime Minister.

In his speech, First Vice-President of the UAR Georgy Ter-Ghazaryants also stressed the need to respond to the call of the Prime Minister and suggested not being satisfied with one meeting, but holding discussions on the issue regularly and developing action plans.

During the congress, several notable Armenians of Moscow, particularly hero of the Artsakh war, Lieutenant-General Norat Ter-Grigoryants; People’s Painter of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, Merited Painter of Armenia, recipient of the Lenin Prize Frid Soghoyan (originally from Gyumri); Doctor of Economics, Professor, Dean of the Higher School of Corporate Management of the Academy of Folk Economy and State Service adjunct to the President of the Russian Federation Sergey Kalenjyan; singer, President of the Arno Babajanyan International Memorial Foundation Ara Babajanyan; member of the Moscow International Arts Foundation and the Union of Writers, famous poet, writer and painter Nina Gabrielyan, as well as film director, writer and publicist Levon Grigoryan and others expressed their views and made their proposals to support Armenia.

Among the participants was attaché of the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in the Russian Federation, representative of the RA Ministry of Diaspora Karen Shakaryan also participated in the congress. In his speech, Shakaryan welcomed the congress and stated that this was perhaps the first large event that an Armenian community has organized in response to the call of the Prime Minister. He informed the attendees that the Armenian government, under the leadership of the Prime Minister, is taking action to engage investments in order to accelerate Armenia’s economic development. He urged the representatives of the community to support the reforms and investment projects that the Armenian government has undertaken, actively maintain ties with the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in the Russian Federation and the RA Ministry of Diaspora and present their programs and proposals.