MINSK, 10 September (BelTA) - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin commented on the Union State programs during a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State of Belarus and Russia in Minsk on 10 September, BelTA has learned.
"The leaders of our countries made a fundamental decision to advance the integration in the Union State, and our task is to fulfill the agreements reached at the highest level. This is why today's meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State is of particular importance for the development of our fraternal relations. We are sincerely interested in taking our cooperation to a new level and giving an additional impetus to the Union State integration," Mikhail Mishustin noted.
He said that there was only one issue on the agenda of the meeting. "These are the main guidelines to implement the Union State Treaty for the current and next two years and 28 sectoral Union State programs," the Russian head of government informed. According to him, the work on the programs involved representatives of the government, the banking sector and business. The opinion of citizens of the two states was also taken into account. "Our common goal is to improve the standard of living of every citizen of both countries. Of course, this can be achieved only by ensuring the growth of our economies," he stressed.
The Union State programs imply the convergence of macroeconomic policies, the formation of conditions to support not only large but also medium and small businesses, creating additional jobs. "Russian business will have an opportunity to increase its business activity in Belarus, launch new joint ventures, increase export. Belarus will get access to Russian public procurement programs, support measures, subsidies, will expand the presents on the industrial and agricultural market, and will be able to attract Russian investments and funds from development institutions in a simplified manner," Mikhail Mishustin informed.
Plans are in place to advance cooperation in the energy sector, which implies the formation of united markets for electricity, gas, oil and petroleum products within the framework of the Union State. “Harmonization of the monetary policies ls an integral part of the integration process. It is necessary to prepare an appropriate interbank agreement, to align the requirements in the field of information security in the financial sector, to work out the the mechanisms for integrating the payment systems. This is very important for citizens and business," the Russian head of government noted.
The countries are also planning to synchronize the tax and customs systems. "We have reached an agreement and found mutually beneficial solutions. Now we need to quickly prepare an agreement on the general principles of taxation on indirect taxes and introduce an integrated system of their administration. As for the customs, the appropriate Union State program will enable our services to act as one team. The unified approaches to accounting for commodity flows in mutual trade will provide equal conditions for doing business," Mikhail Mishustin said.
The Union State programs also provide for closer industrial cooperation, a unified agricultural policy, aligning the legislation in the field of postal services, and reducing the roaming costs in the Union State. "In the transport sector, we will increase the number of railway routes between the cities of Russia and Belarus. Air traffic between our countries will resume in full. We will conclude an intergovernmental agreement that will allow our trucking companies to carry out transportation without special permits," the Russian head of government noted.
