Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Igor Petrishenko called on the CIS countries to complete the work on reconciling the draft agreement on free trade in services as he spoke at the meeting of the CIS Economic Council in Moscow on 18 June.
The work on this agreement is to be completed in line with the action plan of Belarus' chairmanship in the CIS this year. “Belarus' Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko raised this topic at the CIS Heads of Government Council meeting in May. I suggested holding an extraordinary meeting of the Economic Council or a separate meeting at the level of vice premiers to discuss this matter. The CIS Executive Committee said that it was not urgent as the matter got off the ground. Yet, as far as I know, despite some progress, there are still a number of issues that need to be constructively discussed and settled,” Igor Petrishenko said.
“The declared goals can be achieved only through joint efforts, well-coordinated work of all the states and structures of the CIS without exception. Therefore, using this opportunity, I would like to once again call on the CIS states and the Executive Committee to finish the work,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
Also Igor Petrishenko noted that interlinkage of integration processes is an important goal of Belarus' CIS presidency.
According to Igor Petrishenko, the further incremental interlinkage of regional integration processes is another important initiative of Belarus' presidency this year. First of all, it applies to the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Union, he said.
Igor Petrishenko reminded that some progress had been achieved in these matters recently. At a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in May Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed the need to step up efforts meant to involve CIS states into economic interaction with the Eurasian Economic Union by means of working out individual rapprochement plans for every country. The official suggested that as part of the memorandum on tighter interaction that has been signed with the Eurasian Economic Commission the CIS Executive Committee should also more actively get involved in this work in order to fill the relevant documents with concrete content. “It will allow us to reach new quite feasible integration tracks of cooperation,” he said.
Igor Petrishenko stressed that Aleksandr Lukashenko's proposal fully lives up to the spirit of work organization within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States because as part of the mentioned rapprochement plans every state will be able to independently select the spheres, the format, and the depth of building its relations with the Eurasian Economic Union member states. “I'd like everyone to pay attention to this initiative and support it with concrete actions,” Igor Petrishenko said.
Igor Petrishenko also said that Belarus had suggested organizing a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Minsk on 14 October ahead of a meeting of the CIS heads of state, which is scheduled for 15 October.
Moreover Igor Petrishenko said that CIS prepared policy response to COVID-19 economic impact.
“I want to place a special emphasis on the assessment of joint efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. Our countries are in control of the situation, which is partly due to the timely, effective and coordinated response,” Igor Petrishenko said. In this regard, he expressed gratitude to Russia for supplying coronavirus vaccines and transferring its technologies to produce vaccines in Belarus.
“Today we need to scrutinize and approve a roadmap on the section “Measures to minimize the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economies of the CIS member states”, that is part of the action plan to implement the CIS economic development strategy until 2030. The document was based on the proposals of the Commonwealth countries,” he said.
“This document is relevant, since we understand that we will have to live with COVID for more than one year. And the pandemic can take any turn. The situation in India is a case in point,” he said.
Also Belarus expects that an offline summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States involving the heads of state will take place in Minsk in autumn.
According to Igor Petrishenko, a session of the CIS Heads of State Council in Minsk on 15 October will be one of the main events of 2021. The session will be timed to the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. “We expect an offline format of the meeting and hope for a high level of representation of the delegations. A session of the CIS Foreign Ministers Council will take place in Minsk the day before that. It will be a face-to-face meeting as well,” he said.
This is why Igor Petrishenko said he hopes that the CIS Executive Committee will prepare information about progress in realizing the initiatives put forward by the CIS heads of state and heads of government, primarily those concerning economy ahead of the October meeting of the CIS heads of state and the November session of the CIS Heads of Government Council. It would be a good idea to include information about the invigoration of cooperation in production sector and agribusiness, the formation of the common agrarian market, food security in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the reduction of barriers and restrictions impeding the free flow of commodities and services, he noted.
According to Igor Petrishenko, despite the complications caused by the pandemic Belarus' presidency over the Commonwealth of Independent States proceeds successfully this year. “Despite the restrictions between the countries the CIS bodies preserve positive dynamics of cooperation and follow the approved plans,” he stated.
Igor Petrishenko reminded that sessions of the CIS Heads of Government Council, the CIS Foreign Ministers Council have been successfully held this year as well as five sessions of the council of plenipotentiary representatives, six sessions of the Economic Affairs Commission under the CIS Economic Council, and a number of events of sectoral bodies. The current session of the CIS Economic Council is the second one this year.
The creation of a council of transfusiologists was suggested as a result of an international science and practice conference on ensuring the steady operation of national blood supply services of the CIS member states amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Other constructive proposals are in development, which once again underlines the high significance and demand for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Igor Petrishenko added.
The work on this agreement is to be completed in line with the action plan of Belarus' chairmanship in the CIS this year. “Belarus' Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko raised this topic at the CIS Heads of Government Council meeting in May. I suggested holding an extraordinary meeting of the Economic Council or a separate meeting at the level of vice premiers to discuss this matter. The CIS Executive Committee said that it was not urgent as the matter got off the ground. Yet, as far as I know, despite some progress, there are still a number of issues that need to be constructively discussed and settled,” Igor Petrishenko said.
“The declared goals can be achieved only through joint efforts, well-coordinated work of all the states and structures of the CIS without exception. Therefore, using this opportunity, I would like to once again call on the CIS states and the Executive Committee to finish the work,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
Also Igor Petrishenko noted that interlinkage of integration processes is an important goal of Belarus' CIS presidency.
According to Igor Petrishenko, the further incremental interlinkage of regional integration processes is another important initiative of Belarus' presidency this year. First of all, it applies to the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Union, he said.
Igor Petrishenko reminded that some progress had been achieved in these matters recently. At a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in May Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed the need to step up efforts meant to involve CIS states into economic interaction with the Eurasian Economic Union by means of working out individual rapprochement plans for every country. The official suggested that as part of the memorandum on tighter interaction that has been signed with the Eurasian Economic Commission the CIS Executive Committee should also more actively get involved in this work in order to fill the relevant documents with concrete content. “It will allow us to reach new quite feasible integration tracks of cooperation,” he said.
Igor Petrishenko stressed that Aleksandr Lukashenko's proposal fully lives up to the spirit of work organization within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States because as part of the mentioned rapprochement plans every state will be able to independently select the spheres, the format, and the depth of building its relations with the Eurasian Economic Union member states. “I'd like everyone to pay attention to this initiative and support it with concrete actions,” Igor Petrishenko said.
Igor Petrishenko also said that Belarus had suggested organizing a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Minsk on 14 October ahead of a meeting of the CIS heads of state, which is scheduled for 15 October.
Moreover Igor Petrishenko said that CIS prepared policy response to COVID-19 economic impact.
“I want to place a special emphasis on the assessment of joint efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. Our countries are in control of the situation, which is partly due to the timely, effective and coordinated response,” Igor Petrishenko said. In this regard, he expressed gratitude to Russia for supplying coronavirus vaccines and transferring its technologies to produce vaccines in Belarus.
“Today we need to scrutinize and approve a roadmap on the section “Measures to minimize the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economies of the CIS member states”, that is part of the action plan to implement the CIS economic development strategy until 2030. The document was based on the proposals of the Commonwealth countries,” he said.
“This document is relevant, since we understand that we will have to live with COVID for more than one year. And the pandemic can take any turn. The situation in India is a case in point,” he said.
Also Belarus expects that an offline summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States involving the heads of state will take place in Minsk in autumn.
According to Igor Petrishenko, a session of the CIS Heads of State Council in Minsk on 15 October will be one of the main events of 2021. The session will be timed to the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. “We expect an offline format of the meeting and hope for a high level of representation of the delegations. A session of the CIS Foreign Ministers Council will take place in Minsk the day before that. It will be a face-to-face meeting as well,” he said.
This is why Igor Petrishenko said he hopes that the CIS Executive Committee will prepare information about progress in realizing the initiatives put forward by the CIS heads of state and heads of government, primarily those concerning economy ahead of the October meeting of the CIS heads of state and the November session of the CIS Heads of Government Council. It would be a good idea to include information about the invigoration of cooperation in production sector and agribusiness, the formation of the common agrarian market, food security in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the reduction of barriers and restrictions impeding the free flow of commodities and services, he noted.
According to Igor Petrishenko, despite the complications caused by the pandemic Belarus' presidency over the Commonwealth of Independent States proceeds successfully this year. “Despite the restrictions between the countries the CIS bodies preserve positive dynamics of cooperation and follow the approved plans,” he stated.
Igor Petrishenko reminded that sessions of the CIS Heads of Government Council, the CIS Foreign Ministers Council have been successfully held this year as well as five sessions of the council of plenipotentiary representatives, six sessions of the Economic Affairs Commission under the CIS Economic Council, and a number of events of sectoral bodies. The current session of the CIS Economic Council is the second one this year.
The creation of a council of transfusiologists was suggested as a result of an international science and practice conference on ensuring the steady operation of national blood supply services of the CIS member states amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Other constructive proposals are in development, which once again underlines the high significance and demand for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Igor Petrishenko added.