"Everyone will benefit from integration": the authorities of Russia and Belarus approved 28 programs for the Union State

On Friday, September 10, Minsk hosted a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State, which resulted in the approval of the main directions for the implementation of the provisions of the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State for 2021-2023 and 28 programs aimed at implementing tasks to strengthen integration between Russia and Belarus.

“The exceptional importance of building up an active bilateral dialogue on deepening trade and economic cooperation, increasing the effectiveness of coordinated joint actions in all spheres in order to improve the well-being of the fraternal peoples of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus was emphasized,” the press service of the Russian government said.

According to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, union programs define a "clear trajectory" of work in almost all areas of joint activities. He explained that we are talking about industry, energy, finance, agro-industrial complex. It is also envisaged to converge approaches in matters of macroeconomics, tax and customs regulation, monetary policy in general. In addition, the programs affect the transport market, labeling of goods, payment systems, veterinary and phytosanitary control, consumer protection and the unification of legislation in the social and labor sphere.

“We have a common goal - to achieve economic growth, improve the well-being of our people and at the same time preserve the sovereignty of our countries, regardless of the increasingly complicated external environment.

Everyone will benefit from integration within the Union State, ”Mishustin emphasized.

“Entrepreneurs will get new opportunities for doing business, conditions will appear for launching promising projects in industry, transport, energy and many other areas.”

His colleague Roman Golovchenko called the decision to deepen integration based on 28 union programs a very important step towards creating by 2024 the foundations for the functioning of a single economic space from Minsk to Vladivostok.

“It can be stated with full confidence that in world practice the Union State will act as a model for the movement of two independent states towards each other.

We are facing a difficult time-consuming process of implementing the agreed plans.

However, as the meeting of the Union Council of Ministers once again demonstrated, the parties are determined to ensure their implementation in full, ”he explained.

Following the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State, the press service of the government of the Russian Federation published on its website information about all 28 programs for integration with Belarus.

Among other things, they talk about the creation of a common market for gas, oil, oil products and electricity, the unification of the communications market, and the formation of a unified agricultural policy.

Also on russian.rt.com, the Russian Cabinet of Ministers has published all 28 programs on the Union State

Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov and Vladimir Makei held a meeting in Minsk, during which they considered issues of bilateral foreign policy interaction, and also welcomed the decisions made during the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State.

Later, answering journalists' questions during the All Russia 2021 forum, Lavrov stressed that the importance of the signed documents is to strengthen the economies of the two countries.

“Additional foundations are being created for the formation of a full-fledged economy of the Union State,” the head of the foreign policy department noted.

Let us remind you that talks between Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko took place in Moscow yesterday.

During the final press conference, the President of the Russian Federation announced the coordination of all 28 programs within the framework of the Union State, the implementation of which should give a powerful impetus to the economies of the two countries.

Now these programs must be approved by the Supreme State Council of the Union State, which will meet on November 4.

“Indeed, such a date has been tentatively taken as a basis,” said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian President.

He stressed that a pragmatic and realistic approach is needed on the issue of integration.

"Integration, of course, will improve, continue in the form that will be the greatest, the best in line with the interests of the two countries," added a Kremlin official.

In turn, Alexander Lukashenko said that at the talks held in Moscow, it was possible to reach "very serious agreements."

He stated this on September 10 during a meeting with the chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin.

“Yesterday there were good events at the level of the presidents of Belarus and Russia.

We have agreed on many things, these are very serious agreements.

We have not yet taken such steps, as in these three years of preparation and issuance of these union programs, ”BelTA quotes Lukashenka as saying.

The head of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov, commenting on the signing of 28 union programs, expressed the opinion that integration with Russia will bring Belarus 1.5% additional GDP growth per year.

As RIA Novosti clarified in the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development, we are talking about expert assessments of the period after 2024.

“By and large, we must completely integrate our markets in a very short time and make the work of both Belarusian and Russian business absolutely understandable, removing the remnants of administrative barriers,” Reshetnikov explained.