NEWS

Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State

Belarus and Russia should coordinate their efforts in the economic area in the conditions of the global financial crisis, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky said as he met with Russian Premier Vladimir Putin in the run-up to the session of the Union State Council of Ministers. According to Sergei Sidorsky, the coordination of efforts is required by the present-day situation affected by a number of factors: deployment of US anti-missile assets in Eastern Europe, global financial crisis and other factors.

The Belarusian Prime Minister thinks that it would be useful if the heads of government of the two countries speak on the strategy of the economic interaction between Belarus and Russia at the session of the Supreme State Council.

Belarus is finishing the procedure of ratification of the agreement on the property of the Belarus-Russia Union State, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky noted during his meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Minsk on October 6.

According to him, the Belarusian Parliament will ratify the agreement in the near future.

Sergei Sidorsky thanked Vladimir Putin for the decision to provide the Belarusian side with pavilion N18 of the All-Russia Exhibition Centre for the long term lease. In the near future, Belarus will open its national display there.

The system of tariff regulations of Belarus and Russia should be used to develop the Customs Union of the EurAsEC member states, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky said as he met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Minsk on October 6.

Sergei Sidorsky was glad to state that Belarus and Russia have significantly advanced in the unification of the national systems of the tariff regulations, namely by introducing the same rate of import and export customs duties. At present, the level of unification is 95.6%.

The unification of the customs tariffs of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus is much lower and amounts only to 40-50%. The unification level between Belarus and Russia should therefore be used as a basis for the development of the single customs tariff of the Customs Union of the EurAsEC member states, Sergei Sidorsky said.

Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin suggests creating a Belarusian-Russian currency pool and expanding the use of the Russian ruble in mutual payments. He put forward the initiative when he met with Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky in Minsk on October 6.

“In view of the international currency crisis we should attentively watch the ongoing events and respond to them timely,” said Vladimir Putin. He remarked there is interest in further enhancement of the currency integration, including by means of setting up a currency pool and extending the use of the Russian ruble in mutual payments.

“We have a large volume of cooperation, including cooperation in power engineering. It is unclear why, implementing major projects, we still use US dollars while we are well aware of the problems the American economy and the American currency system face,” said the Russian head of government.

In his words, the introduction of the single currency in the Union State is still on agenda. Vladimir Putin said, the parties are advancing in this area calmly, resolving the necessary security issues and taking into account interests of both Belarus and Russia.

Speaking about the bilateral cooperation of Belarus and Russia, Vladimir Putin said, “We should be pleased with how the bilateral economic ties are developing. Over the first eight months of 2006 the trade grew by 60% in comparison with the same period of 2007. For Russia it is a record in comparison with other partners,” he said.

The Russian Premier underscored, “We know we don’t reach all goals. It is not bad. It is important that we see such goals, can set targets and generally advance towards reaching them”. He mentioned the growing cooperation between Belarusian and Russian companies and branches of the economies. Cooperation in customs is also important. This cooperation is aimed at creating the Customs Union of Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan. “Undoubtedly it will increase our competition advantages in relations with other countries,” underscored Vladimir Putin.

“Our meetings have become regular and systematic, which has a productive influence on the resolution of topical issues in the Belarusian-Russian economic and integrative collaboration,” said Sergei Sidorsky. According to the Belarusian Premier, the joint operation of state agencies, ministries of Belarus and Russia is the most important achievement of these meetings. A schedule for holding sessions of branch-wise and functional bodies of the Union State, joint boards of ministries and agencies has been approved and works.

Sessions of commissions for tariff and non-tariff regulation, hydrometeorology, creation of a united transport system have been held. A joint session of the boards of the emergencies ministries has been held. Joint board sessions of the ministries of healthcare, defence, industry, and finance are scheduled for October-November.

During the meeting the Belarusian side was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov, Finance Minister Andrei Kharkovets, and Energy Minister Alexander Ozerets.

The Russian delegation included First Vice Premier Igor Shuvalov, Vice Premier, Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin, and Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko.

The trade between Belarus and Russia may amount to $36 billion in 2008, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky said at the session of the Union State Council of Ministers.

According to him, in the last and current years the sides have worked a lot on the comprehensive advancement of the integration and, first and foremost, the expansion of cooperation in the economic area. It is proved by the rapid growth of the bilateral trade which hit RUB 581.4 billion over the 8 months which is 60% up from the same period of 2007.

“We have grounds to project that the bilateral trade will hit RUB 845 billion or $36 billion by the end of the year,” Sergei Sidorsky said.

The financing of Union programmes will start without delay in 2009. “The timely prepared Union State budget bill for the next year will allow launching the financing of union programmes virtually from the very beginning of 2009 and will allow executors of the programmes to systematically work on implementing them,” said Sergei Sidorsky.

“Together with our Russian partners we support the extension of areas of Union programmes and measures in all areas of the Union State development,” he said. According to Sergei Sidorsky it is convincingly demonstrated by the 2009 Union State budget bill. The next year’s budget is supposed to expand by 20% up on 2008.

The Belarusian head of government believes it is necessary to ensure effective execution of the Union budget. In view of the goal he suggested that finance and economy ministries of the sides should consider the matter at a joint session involving the Union State Permanent Committee.

“On the whole, I believe the cooperation of branch ministries within the framework of joint boards is an effective mechanism for resolving bilateral cooperation issues fast and preparing them for consideration by the Union State Council of Ministers,” remarked the Prime Minister of Belarus.

Sergei Sidorsky said he was confident the present session of the Union State Council of Ministers will give a new boost to ensuring the rapid development of integration processes and will become the basis for working out significant decisions, which can be forwarded for consideration to the Supreme State Council of the Union State.

Economy can and should be the main catalyst of the construction of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said at the session of the Union State Council of Ministers in Minsk on October 6.

He said that the session features the whole range of key issues of the Russia-Belarus integration. “We have to focus on the expansion of the economic cooperation,” Vladimir Putin underlined.

According to the Russian Premier, the sides have recently made significant progress in the unification of the transportation system. The ministries and governmental bodies of Belarus and Russia are holding an active dialogue. The commission on the tariff and non-tariff regulations works on the regular basis. The bilateral trade is rapidly growing. The utilization of the Union State budget funds in H1 2008 and its prospects for 2009 should be analyzed taking into consideration these facts.

More than 40 programmes and projects in Belarus and Russia will be financed by the Union State budget in 2009, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said at the session of the Union State Council of Ministers in Minsk. He said that efforts should be focused on “major break-through projects, in particular, in the sci-tech area.”

Vladimir Putin underlined that it is necessary to form the common sci-tech and information area in Belarus and Russia. The Russian Premier pointed out the work on the calculation and estimation of the funds of the Union State. “It is an important task, the fulfillment of which must raise the efficiency of Belarus-Russia Union State property,” he said.

Vladimir Putin said that it is important to discuss the functioning of the regional group of forces of the two countries in 2009.

The Russian Prime Minister shared the viewpoint of Sergei Sidorsky who praised the progress of the two states in the establishment of the Customs Union. “We are grateful to the President of Belarus and the government for addressing these issues,” Vladimir Putin underlined. He added that the relevant documents “are being ratified and will be adopted.”

Belarus and Russia have reached understanding about the minimization of the consequences of the global financial crisis for the economies of the two countries. “We have discussed the financial interaction between Belarus and Russia. We have reached understanding about the joint efforts that should be taken to address this problem,” Vladimir Putin said.

Russia has taken a set of measures to prevent the negative impact of the crisis; a special task group has been set up; the situation is being monitored.

Belarus and Russia work consistently on the establishment of the full-fledged Customs Union. The head of Belarusian Government was glad to state that the unification level of the customs tariff of Belarus and Russia is 96%. Some hundreds of commodity items are left but they do not play a significant role in the trade. In the next years, the sides are to develop the customs infrastructure of the Union State and bring it to the European level.

Sergei Sidorsky said that the session of the Union State government considered more than 20 issues regarding the fulfillment of the decisions of the Union State governing bodies and the results of the trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and Russia. The sides discussed the formation of the common sci-tech area, the implementation of the joint sci-tech and innovation programmes.

According to the Belarusian Premier, the participants of the session touched upon high-tech projects and the production of nanomaterials. The work that is being carried out by scientists of Belarus and Russia will soon allow to set up enterprises in this area which will become an important contribution to the economy of the two countries.

Belarus and Russia get down to the establishment of the common sci-tech area. Vladimir Putin pointed out the importance of the development of brand-new joint programmes, namely in the area of nanotechnologies.

According to Vladimir Putin, more budget funds will be allocated for the implementation of the Union State programmes.

The head of Russian government said that Belarus and Russia intend to continue their work on the establishment of the full-fledged Customs Union. The efforts in this area will be coordinated with the third partner – Kazakhstan, but Belarus and Russia will lead the efforts, Vladimir Putin added.

The Russian Premier pointed out the efficient work of the commissions on the establishment of the unified transport system, tariff and non-tariff regulations. Direct contacts between ministries and governmental bodies of Belarus and Russia are being established.

According to Vladimir Putin, the Union State Council of Ministers has considered the accounting and evaluation of the Union State funds, discussed the plan of action to support the regional group of forces of Belarus and Russia. The sides touched upon humanitarian and cultural cooperation without which “the full-fledged Belarus-Russia integration is impossible.”

Vladimir Putin thanked the Russian and Belarusian specialists for the good preparation of the session of the Union State Council of Ministers.

Trade between Belarus and Ukraine to exceed $5bln in 2008

In 2008, the trade between Belarus and Ukraine will exceed $5 billion, First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko said. The First Vice Premier is the head of the Belarusian delegation at the 15th session of the Intergovernmental Belarusian-Ukrainian Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation which is being held in Kiev on October 6-7.

According to Vladimir Semashko, for the recent five years, the trade between Belarus and Ukraine has increased more than five times. In 2002, for instance, the trade between the two countries made up $560 million.

Over the eight months 2008, the trade between Belarus and Ukraine reached $3 billion 550 million, two times more as against the same period of last year. The Belarusian exports increased 2.5 times to make up $2.1 billion, the imports increased 1.5 times to make up $1.45 billion. Belarus posted a surplus in trade with Ukraine at the amount of $639 million.

According to Vladimir Semashko, jointly with the basic producers, representatives of the commodity distribution network of the Belarusian companies in Ukraine play an important role to achieve such results.

On October 6, in Kiev Vladimir Semashko had a meeting with the Belarusian trade dealers of such Belarusian companies as MAZ, BelAZ, Gomselmash, Vityaz, Atlant, Santa-Bremor and others. All in all, taking part in the meeting were around 40 dealers and representatives of Belarusian companies-exporters. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Ukraine Valentin Velichko, Belarusian Industry Minister Anatoly Rusetsky, the deputies of the governors of the Brest and Gomel oblasts of Belarus took part in the session as well.

Belarus ranks seventh on Ukraine’s trade partners main list. In turn, Ukraine is the second partner of Belarus in terms of the trade turnover. All in all, Belarus supplies around 2 thousand kinds of Belarusian goods to Ukraine.

Belarus’ main exports to Ukraine are ready-made consumer products of the machine construction, petrochemical and construction branches, foodstuffs, tractors and trucks, spare parts for them, refrigerators and freezers, elevators, oil products, tires, potash fertilizers, cord fabric, synthetic fibers, ceramic tile, wooden construction materials, wall papers, glass, sausages, fish products and others.

Belarus imports metal products, parts to assemble various equipment, oil cake, sunflower oil to produce fodder, gas turbines, carriages from Ukraine.

Belarus is ready to carry out big projects with participation of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Belarus is ready to carry out big projects with the participation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky noted during his meeting with Varel Freeman, the EBRD First Vice President.

“I welcome those projects which are carried out by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Belarus. I think that we are ready for more important economic projects with the participation of EBRD,” Sergei Sidorsky said.

He said that in various years Belarus and EBRD had a complicated dialogue. For instance, some years ago EBRD had considerable doubts about the development of the Belarusian economy. “We have never asked the bank to allocate money. We always proposed projects in the banking area and economy in general. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has issued a micro-credit system for Belarus. After this, the cooperation strategy between the bank and Belarus was inked. At present you may see that the development of the Belarusian economy is stable. Independent rating agencies also confirm it”, Sergei Sidorsky said.

On October 6, Belarusian Bank for Small Business (the authorized fund is €7 million) will open in Belarus. Apart from EBRD, 7 foreign financial institutions more took part in the project a well.

“We believe that owing to our contacts, EBRD will take an active part in the investment-innovation programmes in Belarus,” Sergei Sidorsky highlighted.

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