(AGENPARL) – MOSCA ven 01 luglio 2022

Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk took the floor during the plenary session of the 9th Forum of Russian and Belarusian Regions in Grodno, the Republic of Belarus.

Excerpts from the transcript:

Participants in the Forum of Russian
and Belarusian Regions, colleagues,

We are holding this forum at a time
of great challenges for our nations. Now, like never before, we need to
demonstrate that our regions, governments and parliaments stand united in their
efforts to promote deeper integration between Russia and Belarus. Approved on 4
November 2021, the 28 Union State economic integration programmes were designed
to put conditions in place for developing the Union State and improving the
wellbeing of the people in Belarus and Russia. Our respective governments have
been working together as part of these efforts on a daily basis with all the
agencies contributing to this work. Supervisors have been appointed to oversee
these initiatives.

As of 30 June 2022, we have carried out 416 of 989
initiatives from the integration package for a compliance rate of 42.1 percent.
Most importantly, we have been able to build trust between the staff of our
respective ministries and agencies. They are working very closely and are
communicating directly with one another.

Implementing these agreements will lay the foundation
enabling Russia and Belarus to follow a single macroeconomic policy, as well as
common policies in manufacturing, agriculture, finance, banking, social
services and labour. This will also create conditions for introducing shared
taxation policies and unifying our markets for oil, gas, electricity, and
transport.

From a practical perspective, this
is about harmonising the economic landscapes in Russia and Belarus and creating
a single framework for government agencies and businesses under the “two
countries – one economy” principle. Our companies must be able to operate
without noticing the border that separates our countries so they can work in
both Russia and Belarus.

I cannot forget to mention the
upward momentum in mutual trade. In the first four months of 2022, bilateral
trade increased 10 percent year-on-year to 898.3 billion Russian roubles,
including 514.5 billion roubles worth of exports from Russia to Belarus and
383.8 billion in imports from Belarus, up 14 percent.

An increase in trade statistics
demonstrates not just that we have been effective in coordinating our efforts,
but also that we have reinforced the ties between our countries.

Considering the unprecedented and unjustified pressure
exerted on our countries through the sanctions, using the untapped potential in
our bilateral trade is becoming increasingly important. To replace imports that
are no longer available, we launched an effort to define what Russian and
Belarusian companies need in terms of manufacturing, technology and consumer
products.

More to be posted soon

Fonte/Source: http://government.ru/en/news/45890/