MOSCOW, 23 December (BelTA) - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia adopted the draft budget of the Union State for 2022. The document passed the second meeting at the 61st session of the Parliamentary Assembly in Moscow on 23 December, BelTA has learned.
Revenues of the 2022 Union State budget have been approved at RUB4,598.9 billion. Major revenues will be made of the annual contributions of Belarus (RUB1,534.5 billion) and Russia (RUB2,850.3 billion). In addition, the Union State budget will include revenues received by the Television and Radio Broadcasting Organization of the Union State and the unencumbered balances of the Union State budgets of previous years in the amount of RUB214.1 million.
Expenditures of the 2022 Union State budget are forecast in the amount of RUB3,111.5 billion. The budget is projected to run a surplus of RUB1,487.4 billion. In 2020 the budget funds will be used to finance three programs and 28 events. The draft decree of the Supreme State Council of the Union State “On the Union State budget 2021” establishes that the budget surplus, in coordination with the Parliamentary Assembly, will be used to finance new programs, projects and activities that will be approved for 2022.
“I think it is necessary to emphasize that the adoption of the historic decisions on economic integration by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin, members of the Supreme State Council on 4 November, should certainly be taken into account by all of us. They determine new approaches to the formation of the budget policy of the Union State. Implementation of the 28 Union State programs should be reflected in the most substantial way, including the development of the projects financed by the Union State budget,” said State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev.
According to the state secretary, the main priorities of finance management in the Union State for the period up to 2024 is the adaptation of the budget process to the new challenges of economic integration. “That means that the draft budget for next year and for 2023 should be prepared taking into account the above-mentioned approaches,” he added.
In accordance with the provisions of the Union State Treaty, the budget adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly will be submitted to the Supreme State Council of the Union State for approval.
The budget became the central issue of the second session. The first session was held in Minsk on 2 December. There, Vyacheslav Volodin was re-elected as head of the Parliamentary Assembly, and the powers of the Russian deputation were confirmed. A statement was also adopted in connection with the situation on the Belarusian-Polish border. The Union State MPs called on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament and other structures of the European Union to take specific measures to resolve the crisis.
