OSCE Office in Yerevan

1. Basic decisions

Establishment:

• Permanent Council Decision No. 314, 22 July 1999 (PC.DEC/314).

2. Tasks

In accordance with the decision of the OSCE Permanent Council referred to above, the Office will perform the following tasks:

• Promote the implementation of the OSCE principles and commitments as well as the co-operation of the Republic of Armenia within the OSCE framework, in all OSCE dimensions, including the human, political, economic and environmental aspects of security and stability;
• Facilitate contacts, co-ordinate activities and promote information exchange with the Chairman-in-Office and other OSCE institutions as well as co-operation with international organizations and institutions;
• Establish and maintain contacts with local authorities, universities, research institutions and NGOs and assist in arranging events with OSCE participation;
• Perform other tasks deemed appropriate by the Chairman-in-Office or other OSCE institutions and agreed on between the Republic of Armenia and the OSCE.

3. Deployment

The Office initiated its official activities on 16 February 2000 following the ratification by the Armenian National Assembly of the Memorandum of Understanding between the OSCE and the Republic of Armenia.

4. Duration

The Office's original mandate lasted until 31 December 1999. Subsequent prolongations were decided at:

• 260th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/324, 2 December 1999: until 31 December 2000;
• 313rd PC Meeting, PC.DEC/388, 7 December 2000: until 31 December 2001;
• 375th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/461, 21 December 2001: until 31 December 2002;
• 426th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/520 of 12 December 2002: until 31 December 2003;
• 487th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/573 of 11 December 2003: until 31 December 2004;
• 535th PC Meeting, PC.DEC/641 of 2 December 2004: until 31 December 2005;
• 582nd PC Meeting, PC.DEC/711 of 1 December 2005: until 31 December 2006.

5. Composition

The Office initially started with six international staff members, including the Head of Office, with an extra international staff member added in 2003. The total number of international staff is 7.

The Head of the Office is Ambassador Sergey Kapinos of the Russian Federation, who took up his post on 1 October 2007.

6. Financial implications

The OSCE Unified Budget for 2006, adopted on 20 December 2005, PC.DEC/712, established the budget of the OSCE Office in Yerevan at EUR 1,628,300.