MINSK, 6 September (BelTA) - The Union State program to set up the common gas market of Belarus and Russia is ready, Belarusian First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov said on the air of the Belarus 1 TV channel on 5 September, BelTA has learned.
“We have found the consensus on all 28 Union State programs. We have reached the finish line. I very much hope that the presidents of the two countries during the meeting on 9 September will give their verdict to our work as to whether the programs are ready for signing in the form and structure that we have submitted," Nikolai Snopkov said.
According to him, when working on the Union State programs, the main emphasis was placed on the sustainability of the economic development of the two states. “We see how aggressive the external environment is, how actively intra-country or intra-bloc protectionism is growing. Therefore, it is logical for the two countries that have long been in the economic union to further their efforts, to pool together their financial and intellectual resources to ensure the sustainable development of both the two countries as a group and individually,” Nikolai Snopkov noted.
"If we talk about the Union State programs as a whole, by and large they are based on three basic elements: goal, direction and result. The goal is the same for everyone: to create equal starting conditions for business entities of the two countries. The mechanisms are the alignment of the legislation of the two countries not on the basis of the Russian one (as some love to say), but on the basis of best practices, including those that are not yet applied either in the Russian Federation or in the Republic of Belarus," Nikolai Snopkov said.
Speaking about the industrial and agrarian policies, the first deputy prime minister considers it important to unify the localization of production of Russian and Belarusian goods. “This will contribute to our efforts to implement the president's instruction on import substitution. We must also understand that there will be internal competition, which will stimulate the development of our producers,” he stressed. “The agrarian policy is the most important element, since Russia is the main market for our dairy and meat products. One of the elements is to devise the bilateral rules on the movement of goods. We see that the existing rules of the Eurasian Economic Union do not work very well. We are confident that in the Union State we will be able to find such approaches that will be fair from the point of view of assessing the veterinary and sanitary qualities of products that will move between Russia and Belarus."
“As for sovereignty, the debate on this topic seems strange to me. Belarus will remain independent. The two countries have long been working within the framework of the Union State and have been prioritizing the economy. Third countries are not very happy about it. Today Belarus and Russia are facing sanctions. It is logical that two states unite their efforts to resist economically to aggressive third forces. It is exclusively about building the economic strength of the two countries. Therefore the intellectual potential, financial and natural resources are important elements that we need to pool together to resist and grow," the first deputy prime minister noted.
Nikolai Snopkov also added that the program to set up the common gas market is ready. "The roadmap suggests that next year the parties will apply the unambiguous, clear principles and approaches to the unified gas market. Today we see that the gas price for us is lower compared to all CIS countries and the European Union. The market is volatile, so these principles should help generate the correct price response in the Union State so that the prices remain comfortable for us," he concluded.
