THE 42ND EAG PLENARY MEETING OPENED IN MOSCOW

The 42nd Plenary Meeting of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering
and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) has started in Moscow, led by the Chairman of the EAG Yury Chikhanchin.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, spoke at the meeting. The Deputy Prime Minister read off the address of Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of Russia, to the attendees and guests of the plenary meeting. The Prime Minister highlighted that over 20 years the Eurasian Group had built up an efficient model of interstate partnership that ensured transparency of financial flows, timely identification and minimization of risks and prompt response to the same.

Dmitry Chernyshenko noted that the Government of the Russian Federation paid particular attention to financial security issues, including combating money laundering and financing of terrorism. It is important to maintain continuous cooperation and sharing of experience between the Eurasian Group member states.

“Successful implementation of the stated objectives is only possible if all the stakeholders actively communicate, consolidate their efforts and show openness to innovations. We are certain that the work being done will provide a strong foundation for further sustainable development of our economies and reliable protection against new threats,” said Deputy Prime Minister.

Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, sent his greeting to the delegates. The head of the foreign service emphasized that over the past years the Eurasian Group had strengthened its position of the leading regional mechanism for securing financial systems of the member states. Pyotr Ilyichev, Director of the MFA Department for New Challenges and Threats, read out the greeting of the Minister.

In his opening speech, the EAG Chairman Yury Chikhanchin thanked the leaders of the Russian Government for close attention to financial security issues and welcomed attendees and guests of the forum.

The speaker expressed condolences in connection with terrorist attacks in Kashmir on April 22 that had caused deaths and injuries, also among civilians.

When addressing the plenary meeting, the EAG Chairman focused on general risks and threats and the need to consolidate efforts for minimizing the same:

“Our countries still face common challenges associated with transnational criminal activities, terrorism, corruption and embezzlement of public funds, drug trafficking, use of new technologies and virtual assets for criminal purposes. Systemic consolidation of our efforts, development of mechanisms for regional coordination and interaction make it possible to achieve a whole new level of neutralizing the said threats.”

Yury Chikhanchin noted that the work of the Plenary Meeting would focus on further preparation of countries for the new round of mutual evaluations. Special attention is paid to the implementation and effective application of updated FATF Standards and issues of personnel training on the basis of uniform standards of educational process.

The Plenary Meeting has integrated delegates from 19 countries of the Eurasian region, Middle East, Africa, South-East Asia, as well as more than 20 international organizations.