Armen Gevorgyan, Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Territorial Administration of Armenia addressed the 25th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities 

On 29 October 2013, Mr. Armen Gevorgyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Territorial Administration of Armenia, addressed on behalf of the Armenian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe the 25th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.

In his communication to the participants in the Session, he presented the activities undertaken by the Committee of Ministers regarding the issues related to local and regional democracy. He also informed the Congress members of the activities of the Armenian Chairmanship in the area of local democracy. In particular, he mentioned the Conference on Participatory Democracy at Local Level held in Yerevan on June 19 in close cooperation with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. Mr. Herwig Van Staa, the President of the Congress, as well as other high level members of the Congress participated in the conference. The conclusions of the conference have been taken note of by the Bureau of the Congress at its meeting in September.

Mr. Gevorgyan also spoke about the International Conference of Capital Cities of the Council of Europe member States held in Yerevan on 11 October, which also was organised in cooperation with the Congress. Mr. John Warmisham, Vice-President of the Congress, participated in the conference, which was devoted to the challenges faced by metropolises today. The conclusions of the conference, presented by Mr. Warmisham, contained number of proposals aimed at overcoming the difficulties and challenges that urban local authorities are confronted with.

In his national capacity as Minister of Territorial Administration Mr. Gevorgyan presented the situation in Armenia with regard to local self-government. He mentioned also the Council of Europe – Armenia Action Plan for 2012-2014, where a number of programmes are envisaged in the area of local democracy and capacity building of local authorities.

Mr.Gevorgyan also answered written questions by members of the Congress.

At the end of the morning sitting of the Plenary Session, Mr. Gevorgyan and Mr. Herwig Van Staa inaugurated the "The Magic of Armenian Grapes" wines-tasting event organised by the Armenian Chairmanship.

The event was organised with the aim to present to the guests the centuries' long history of viticulture and wine making in Armenia as the tradition of growing grapes in the Ararat valley goes back to the 9th century BC. The guests had an opportunity to test the Armenian traditional food, wine, brandy and to savour the delicious taste of Armenian grapes.

• Speech
• Interview MediaBox M.Gevorgyan (you tube video)