The volume of transport within the Eurasian Economic Union does not increase globally, the chair of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Tigran Sargsyan said in Yerevan on Monday at the international forum “Transit Potential of the Eurasian Continent”.

According to him, the transit cost in the final cost of goods within the EEU is 30%, while in the EU - 10%, in the USA - 9%. 

“This is a disaster for us, we will not stand the competition at such a pace,” he said adding that very simple questions may be discussed for years, and decisions made are already becoming obsolete. 

“The same applies to the issue of digitization, and today it is already becoming clear that without these changes it is not necessary to talk about development,” he added.

According to Sargsyan, those who make quick decisions become winners in the world, and naturally, a supranational structure can make operational decisions within the Union. 

“In addition, it is important to harmonize the legislative framework in the participating countries in order to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. One of such successful examples is the Customs Code, which was adopted, including taking into account the comments of more than 1000 business representatives,” he said.

The chair of the EEC Board noted that the most common complaint from business comes down to why decision making or implementation is delayed. 

“In 5 years, we have been able to reach a consensus on what needs to be done. But there is a huge unrealized potential that can be realized through the digitization of the transport and logical sphere and the acceleration of decision-making,” he concluded.