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12 November 2019, 14:28

Belarus, Russia consider scrapping food supply balance sheets

MINSK, 12 November (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia are considering a possibility to abolish demand and supply balance sheets for food, Belarusian Agriculture and Food Minister Anatoly Khotko told reporters at the international wholesale exhibition Prodexpo 2019, BelTA has learned.

“Maybe, the format of these balance sheets will be revised taking into consideration plans to sign roadmaps. It will depend on whether we will need them altogether,” Anatoly Khotko said.

In his words, this matter will be discussed at the forthcoming meeting with Russia's minister of agriculture. “Everything is possible. We are getting ready for such a mechanism of ensuring transparency of supplies. This is a matter of discussion, but we believe that these balance sheets might be scrapped. We are working on our common agricultural policy and we will decide whether such balance sheets make sense,” the minister said.

At present the parties are working on balance sheets for 2020. “We will take a decision on them at the bilateral meeting,” Anatoly Khotko said.

“Russia accounts for about 70% of Belarus' export of agricultural products. Issues arise every now and then, but we are trying to resolve them without causing any damage to our agricultural and processing sectors,” Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Dvornik said. “I do not see any big issues [while drafting the Belarus-Russia integration roadmap for agriculture]. We are streamlining the process and want to make sure we are on the same page,” he said.

When asked about the progress in drawing up the roadmap, Anatoly Khotko said: “Discussion and reconciliation of all normative documents are underway. I cannot say that the process is smooth, but the arising issues are mostly technicalities that are tackled at the bilateral level.”

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