BISHKEK, September 16. /TASS/. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has proved to be an important interstate format useful to find answers to complicated problems that have been springing into existence since the early 1990s, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said on Friday.

"This is a jubilee year for both the Commonwealth of Independent States and for our countries: we are marking 25th anniversary of independence of our states and the establishment of the Commonwealth," he said at a narrow-format meeting of the CIS leaders. "Over this period, the CIS has proved to be an important interstate format useful for finding answers to complicated problems he have been facing since the early 1990s."

"The Commonwealth of Independent States has helped to preserve economic, humanitarian, political and other ties in the post-Soviet space. It has made a major contribution to their subsequent development in conditions of state system buildup in our countries," Sargsyan said.

"Naturally, not all of our expectations have come true and not all problems have been duly resolved," he noted, adding that it partially stemmed from "different approaches of the member states to the Commonwealth role and future."

"The years 2016 is a kind of landmark to scrutinize the 25-year experience of the Commonwealth, to objectively and unbiasedly analyze its activities and in this light to outline benchmarks for further development of the CIS and its adjustment to the present-day realities," the Armenian president noted. "In conditions of the existence of other integration associations in the post-Soviet space, the key goal of such adjustment is to boost the Commonwealth’s efficiency, to give fresh impetus to multilateral cooperation in this format."

"This is the context the Armenian side is considering the draft resolution on the CIS adjustment in. The Armenian side supports this draft which provides for delegating a range of competences to the Council of CIS Foreign Ministers, the Economic Council and permanent representatives," Sargsyan said. "We might be somewhat late with that."

"Decentralized cooperation, or cooperation between various regions of our countries, not necessarily those bordering each other, is gaining ever growing topicality," he noted. "Closer direct contacts at the level of territories, regions, municipalities will give wider possibilities for the development and implementation of joint trade-and-economic and cultural-and-humanitarian programs, including programs for support of compatriots living in regions, for the expansion of youth contacts."

The Armenian side, in his words, believes that a convention on interregional cooperation in the CIS will be very useful.