MINSK, 21 October (BelTA) - About $20 million a year will be allocated to support cooperation projects of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Belarusian First Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Kiyko said the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting in Yerevan, Armenia on 20 October, BelTA has learned.
The first deputy finance minister reminded that at the previous meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council the prime ministers and chairpersons of the governments instructed the commission and the experts to work out the mechanisms for supporting projects of industrial cooperation. “Today all the countries need investments more than ever. We need to develop cooperative chains, create added value and highly productive jobs. The commission worked with experts, and developed a number of proposals. The heads of governments were offered to give specific instructions on the practical development of the mechanism to support cooperative projects. Such support includes subsidizing interest rates on loans to financial organizations which will receive funds from the Eurasian Economic Union budget to reduce interest rates for those who will be implementing these projects. This is a mechanism which will make it possible to reduce the cost of loans for project implementers. It is a working mechanism which is used separately in our countries. But now, combining resources and efforts to create these industrial cooperatives, we can achieve a greater effect,” he said.
Commenting on the process, Dmitry Kiyko added that each country has projects. “About $20 million per year have so far been identified as a source of funds - this is what will cover interest rates. But this does not limit the amount of loans for such projects,” the deputy minister stressed.
He named the Belarusian electric bus as a promising example. The project implies participation of the parties in the development of components, electric transport. “The implementation of this project with relatively cheap loans will make it possible to solve these issues. We will develop strong cooperative chains between our countries, develop relevant competencies. Electric transport means highly productive jobs, so everyone will benefit from it. The commission will directly manage resources, make sure that the projects proposed for subsiding meet the criteria. That is why the question of support for launching joint projects is already put into practice,” Dmitry Kiyko said.
The deputy minister said that the relevant documents will be prepared in the shortest possible time (and all countries are interested in this). The selection of projects and work with financial institutions may be organized in 2023. From 2024 the relevant funds for subsidizing will be envisaged in the budget.
