MOSCOW, 3 September (BelTA) – About one third of the jobs in Belarus rely on the market of the Eurasian Economic Union one way or another. Disruptions in cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union will have dramatic consequences for all Belarusians, BelTA learned from Andrei Slepnev, Member of the Board (Minister) for Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission.
The official said: “The key goal and the key value of the Eurasian Economic Union is our common economic space, the common market. I can say that Belarus actively uses its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union, uses this common market. Taking into account the structure of Belarus' diversified economy, taking into account the economic opportunities it has, we estimate that about one third of all the jobs, including public sector ones, rely on the market of the Eurasian Economic Union one way or another.”
The official reminded that the Eurasian Economic Union accounts for roughly 45% (about $15 billion) of Belarus' total export. “In important sectors of the economy that employ a lot of people the figures are even higher: 85% of all the Belarusian food is exported to the Eurasian Economic Union, 75% of all the textile and apparel, 75% of the machines, vehicles, and equipment. These figures indicate that the Eurasian Economic Union market is the key one for Belarus' export. Certainly, any disruptions in this cooperation will deliver a strong economic blow to Belarus and most importantly to Belarusian households, families, jobs. It will definitely be much more dramatic than recent examples in neighboring countries where integration was not that high after all. For Belarus it will be a tragedy from the point of view of revenues, population impoverishment, the need to seek jobs abroad, somewhere in Russia or in Western countries. It is certainly an undesired scenario,” the official said.
Andrei Slepnev stressed that apart from the common market the Eurasian Economic Union boasts all kinds of cooperation, including in healthcare, education, and investments. Citizens of the Eurasian Economic Union member states can freely travel inside the union. “And then there is manufacturing cooperation between enterprises: 8,000 enterprises maintain tight manufacturing cooperation ties. One can say they are united by technology. Breaking these ties will have a serious destabilizing impact,” he added.
“Certainly, there are disputes between Eurasian Economic Union member states. Certainly, we sometimes keenly discuss various matters. But the fact even more vividly indicates that the ties are very tight, this is why the disputes are so hot. I am convinced that the existing economic cooperation is mutually beneficial. We are not talking about unilateral benefits that only Belarus uses, for example. There is no doubt that all the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union use fruits of this cooperation. We wouldn't want to lose it,” the official concluded.
