Minister of Environment of Armenia Hakob Simidyan met today the delegation headed by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Lithuania to Armenia Inga Stanite-Tolochkiene. The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister A.Mazmanyan, Head of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Environment R. Grigoryan and Adviser to the Minister E. Hunanyan.
Greeting the guests, Minister Simidyan thanked for the initiative of the meeting.
"Lithuania is the first country in the world to recognize Armenia's independence and one of the first countries with which Armenia established diplomatic relations in 1991. The Armenian government attaches great importance to the warm and partnership relations between our countries. I think it is also symbolic that you are the first ambassador with whom I meet after assuming the status of minister," the minister said.
The Minister also thanked for the response to the initiative of the Government of the Republic of Armenia "10 million" trees and for the creation of a Lithuanian forest on the territory of the forestry of the Khndzorut branch of the "Vanadzor Forestry of  "Armles" SNCO and said that the staff of "Armles" SNCO takes care and treats with all care the symbol of friendship of our countries forest.
In turn, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Lithuania to Armenia thanked for the meeting and referred to the existence of a high-level diplomatic and political dialogue between our countries, expressed readiness to continue to make efforts aimed at long-term cooperation with the Ministry of Environment.
A number of issues of mutual interests were discussed at the meeting.
Since 2021, the program "Development of Sustainable Glass-Plastic Waste Management System" has been launched with the participation of the Lithuanian Embassy in the Republic of Armenia and the Environmental Projects Management Agency of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania.
Within the framework of the program, "Sustainable Waste Management. Lithuania's experience and the EU's vision", as well as 5 representatives of Armenia ( with the participation of A. Mazmanyan), a training visit to Lithuania took place. During the visit, the representatives of the Armenian delegation got acquainted with the advanced Lithuanian experience of the deposit (return) system of glass and plastic containers and studied the possibilities of introducing the model in the Republic of Armenia.
"The Ministry of Environment has started work on the introduction of an expanded producer responsibility system in Armenia as a commitment under the RA-EU Comprehensive and Expanded Partnership Agreement. Commitment to implement an expanded producer responsibility system by 2023, the development of a legislative framework is important for the implementation of the program. Taking into account the already formed close cooperation with the Lithuanian side, the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia in 2021 December officially appealed to the Lithuanian side for help in developing a legislative framework within the framework of the introduction of an expanded system of producer responsibility.  Ms. Stanite-Tolochkiene expressed readiness to assist the Ministry of Environment in the implementation of the program.
Within the framework of the program "Implementation of solutions and technologies for climate change mitigation and adaptation to climate change in developing countries, transferring Lithuanian experience", a solar power plant with a capacity of 30 kW was installed at the Getk Secondary School. The installation of the power plant was funded by  the Environmental Projects Management Agency of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania.  
Deputy Minister Anna Mazmanyan expressed special gratitude to the Ambassador for his active work aimed at preserving the environment in Armenia.
At the end of the meeting, Minister Hakob Simidyan expressed hope that this meeting will give a new impetus to bilateral relations and expressed readiness to deepen cooperation both within the framework of existing and planned programs for the benefit of a healthier and protected environment.