Russian State Duma decides to indefinitely postpone draft law on recognition of Armenian driver’s licenses

The Russian State Duma has decided to indefinitely postpone consideration of the draft law on the recognition of driver’s licenses of Armenian citizens for business and labor activities, the website of the Russian State Duma reports.

The bill initiated by the Government of Russia was adopted on its first reading in June 2022. As the chair of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin noted during the discussion, “in fact, this bill suggests giving Armenia additional preferences, despite the fact that the deputies of the republic, the leadership, and the government have not taken any steps to consolidate the status of the Russian language. And it is on this basis that we decide to allow the use of national driving licenses of other countries on the territory of Russia.”

“We have made such decisions with respect to Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, since the Russian language is enshrined in the Constitution of these countries. We see that the Russian language has no official status in Armenia; the latest decisions are absolutely not aimed at developing relations in this area,” Vyacheslav Volodin added.

Yevgeny Moskvichev, Chair of the Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development, made a proposal to suspend consideration of the bill at the beginning of the plenary session. According to him, this initiative currently does not meet the interests of Russia.

Vyacheslav Volodin instructed the relevant committees of the State Duma to examine the issue and propose further steps.