Zaharieva from Armenia: There Are no Direct Flights between our Countries

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan have agreed on the two sides to work for more cohesion. This was published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its website.

"It is important for our nations to see that we have excellent bilateral relations. I hope that my visit will help to develop tourism. We must also focus on connectivity, there is no direct flight between our countries, "Ekaterina Zaharieva, who is on her first official visit to Armenia, said during her talks with Zohrab Mnatsakanyan.

"Direct air travel should be our absolute priority in connectivity. We will encourage our companies to work in this direction," the Armenian foreign minister said.
Both ministers agreed that the lack of open political issues between the two countries and the centuries-old historical civilizational ties are a good basis for developing relations more actively. There are also 10,800 Bulgarian citizens of Armenian origin in Bulgaria, who, according to Ekaterina Zaharieva, are a natural bridge and a living link between the two countries.

The foreign minister noted the low trade between the two countries, which in 2018 amounts to $ 27.3 million. In the January-June period of 2019, trade amounted to $ 19.5 million, with our exports increasing by 53% over the same period in 2018.

"We have an increase in exports for the first 6 months, but overall there is not much trade. I'm sure the reason is poor connectivity. We need to focus more on transport projects and connections through the Black Sea corridor, "said Ekaterina Zaharieva. According to her, Armenia could take advantage of Bulgaria's strategic location and use our country to enter the European Union, which is also...