MOSCOW, 7 September (BelTA) – The sanctions agenda used by some countries is unlawful and anticompetitive, BelTA learned from Andrei Slepnev, Member of the Board (Minister) for Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission.
The official said: “We believe that the sanctions agenda is absolutely unlawful from the point of view of international trade. We see that it involves not only political considerations. It is an anticompetitive practice designed to remove a competitor from the international market. We don't accept these sanctions and will not agree to them.”
The official stated that sanctions fail to reach the goals for the sake of which they are introduced. “We see that the sanctions against Russia, against Belarus, against other countries have failed to reach their goals. Have they created certain complications for mutual trade, for mutual economic relations? They certainly have. But these complications need to be resolved. We are going to live in these circumstances and take care of our development by leveraging opportunities of the huge space of the Eurasian Economic Union where everything is available – the market, resources, and talented people. All of it only makes us stronger. As we can see at the example of the agrarian market, for instance, we can just substitute imports with domestic products and now we are a net exporter.”
“We've looked at trade statistics over the course of half a year in conditions of COVID-19 and the resulting problems,” Andrei Slepnev continued. “Yes, trade fell nearly across the board although volumes are more or less respectable still. But supplies of agrarian products are on the rise. In these conditions when matters of food security became particularly important for all countries, when borders started closing, the Eurasian Economic Union showed its worth. It is ready to satisfy domestic demand, help out neighbors, and export products to other countries. And we profit from it. It is one of the bright examples of what sanctions can produce. Five years ago before Western countries introduced sanctions against Russia we were net importers of a large number of products, including meat, cheese, and so on. We export all of them now.”