CHOLPON ATA, 20 August (BelTA) – Belarus' Deputy Prime Minister Igor Petrishenko told reporters about the outcomes of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting on 20 August, BelTA has learned.
“We have discussed ways to boost the export of the EAEU products to the markets of third countries. A working group will be put together to draft an agreement to provide adequate insurance support for export risks. We believe this agreement will be ready within a short period of time,” Igor Petrishenko said.
The participants of the meeting also approved the list of exemptions and restrictions that are to be eliminated on the EAEU internal market in 2021-2022. “To advance Eurasian integration, we need to remove barriers to the movement of goods. Transportation is another important issue. A memorandum was signed today between the railway companies from Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan as part of efforts to promote cooperation with China. This will accelerate the movement of goods,” he said.
In addition, the creation of common markets for oil, petroleum products and gas was discussed. “As for the gas market, Russia presented a corresponding draft agreement, experts already held a dozen consultations and identified the issues that will have to be reconciled. As for the market of oil and petroleum products, it seems that everything is going on as planed, but we need to find common ground on certain things. We proposed to raise these issues at the next meeting of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission in a bid to give momentum to this process and achieve concrete results,” Igor Petrishenko noted.
Product safety was also on the agenda. “It is very important for us to supply quality and safe products. The participants agreed to sign a corresponding agreement to ensure the safety of products they supply. On the sidelines of the meeting we discussed the need to accelerate the adoption of regulations on processed and unprocessed food products, which will help us remove the barriers to the movement of our goods to the markets of the EAEU countries,” the deputy prime minister added.
“We also set up a high-level group to actively promote the digital agenda within the EAEU. We should rely on our digital platforms, combine them with those of our partners, primarily those that signed free trade agreements with us and are negotiating this topic with us,” Igor Petrishenko added.
