About competitors and partners
Speaking at the session “Dialogue of integrations: partnership instead of competition”, Dmitry Mezentsev noted that the practice in the formats of the State of the Union can be a good example for the CIS countries, the EAEU countries, as well as for SCO countries. Competition was, is and will be, Dmitry Mezentsev is sure, but in any integration structure, the balance of proportions of the combination of the national interest and the interest of the association itself is important.
“The State of the Union and the practice of relations between Belarus and Russia is a surprisingly realistic balance of a combination of national interests, political tasks, economic practices and the system of relations that has developed in the humanitarian, cultural and educational space,” the state said. Secretary of State of the Union pointed out. He reminded those present that a new round of integration cooperation between the two countries started in November 2021.
Belarusian Ambassador to the Russian Federation says work is underway to reduce the cost of roaming in the Union state
“After the decision of a fundamentally new scale of economic integration by the Supreme State Council in November 2021, many questions disappeared on their own,” Dmitry Mezentsev clarified. “28 union programs are a work plan in 28 areas, but at the same time these areas are clearly and professionally interconnected.
Among these areas: the formation of a unified industrial policy, a unified policy in the agricultural sector, the interaction of the central banks of the two countries as regulators of currency control, the support and formation of joint practices with Belarus as a peaceful atom country to utilize the potential of BelNPP and distribute a new electricity resource…
“We are talking about the social sphere and the guaranteed security (which is not in the CIS) of the equal rights of citizens to employment, education, advanced training, qualified medical care, the right to move and others”, listed Dmitry Mezentsev, emphasizing that although the passports of a Belarusian citizen and a Russian citizen are different, the security of the social status of a citizen is practically the same throughout the space of Brest in the Far East.
The discussion was also attended by Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Dmitry Volvach, MP. CIS General Secretary Denis Trefilov, EEC Minister Sergey Glazyev and other experts.
They discussed the prospects for expanding economic cooperation among Eurasian organizations, the possibility of a common agricultural market, ways to balance the interests of the state, business and society.
About strategy and vectors
The discussion in the session “State of the Union: Russia-Belarus interaction strategy” was also extremely instructive. First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Nikolai Snopkov, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government Alexei Overchuk, Chairman of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin, Ambassador of Belarus to Russia Dmitry Krutoy, Chairman of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute Mikhail Kovalchuk and other status experts were invited to the conversation.
Dmitry Mezentsev acted as moderator. Opening the discussion, the State Secretary of the Union State underlined that “Russia and Belarus are capable of solving the most complex problems by negotiating and taking into account national interests and achieving integral results , which are determined by the presidents of the two countries. ”
Nikolai Snopkov (he headed the delegation of the Republic of Belarus), taking the floor, said:
“When there is real interest in deepening cooperation here and now, we immediately move from words to concrete deeds, thus setting the vector for regional cooperation for other post-Soviet countries. The State of the Union is testing now a new model for building integration, creating new trends, development trajectories and showing an exemplary and effective level of cooperation.
He announced the trade figures between the two countries:
- Previously, the share of bilateral trade between Belarus and Russia amounted to 74% of all mutual trade between current EAEU member countries. In 2022, the indicator rose to 57%, but in value, the two allied countries maintained their previous volumes. This means that the indicators of trade with the Union’s other partners have increased.
At the end of last year, Belarusian-Russian mutual trade amounted to $45.8 billion. It is possible to increase the volumes by another 700 million to 1 billion dollars. This can be done by increasing the supply of traditional products: meat and dairy products, metal products, wooden materials, Nikolai Snopkov said.
Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government, in turn noted that the deepest integration is achieved today in the Union State.
– And it was the State of the Union that took the brunt of the economic pressure of sanctions on our countries last year. To some extent, this has pushed our countries to cooperate more,” he said, pointing out that there are now three integration orbits: the State of the Union, the EAEU and the CIS.
Alexey Overchuk underlined the importance of 28 trade union programs, the implementation of which greatly contributes to the stability of the Union.
– These documents provide for a systematic transition to the convergence of state administration and regulation in all key areas of our society. To date, the union programs have been implemented at 80%, that is to say that we are working and this work is on schedule,” the official said.
Alexei Overchuk recalled that Russia and Belarus are actively working on the creation of a supranational tax committee.
The President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, spoke about industrial cooperation between Russia and Belarus.
– Russian investments are quite efficiently invested in the Belarusian economy. A good example is the Novolipetsk plant. Many logistics and transport solutions. For example, in Severstal, he says. According to Shokhin, Belarusian companies also show good results in the Russian market. First of all, we are talking about such companies as BELAZ, Amkodor and MTZ.
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p class=””>Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Dmitry Krutoy spoke about the positive trends in relation to both countries. According to him, Minsk and Moscow are systematically removing the last obstacles to the economy and trade between the two countries is showing explosive growth. The head of the Belarusian diplomatic mission said that Belarus and Russia will continue to work to reduce the cost of roaming in the Union state.
Dmitry Mezentsev recalled that a new round of integration began in November 2021. Photo: Sergei Bobylev / TASS
- Last year, service revenue was $6 billion. And the growth rate – 29% – is 2 times higher than the growth rate of mutual trade in goods, this year – there is data for the first quarter – trade in services increased by 31% – this is also close twice as high as the mutual trade in goods, – said Dmitry Krutoy.
When it comes to the types of services demanded in the state of the union, the transport sector dominates here. This is due to the redirection of raw material flows, Krutoy said. In second place in the line of trade in services is the information technology sector.
- Mutual cooperation is more than one billion dollars. I meet with heads of regions, including within the framework of this forum, and many of them talk about IT services as one of the key topics on the bilateral agenda,” the Ambassador concluded.
The main task of the state should be to ensure sovereignty in the field of the agro-industrial complex (AIC). This was stated by the chairman of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute” Mikhail Kovalchuk.
- We must understand that nuclear weapons are deterrents, and today there is a completely different type of biological weapon, which is much more dangerous and can be used in such a way that we will not even know it. Therefore, sovereignty in the sphere of the agro-industrial complex today is the main task of the state, the scientist said.
Besides
On the sidelines of the forum, the Secretary of State of the State of the Union, answering a question from RIA Novosti, said that the development of proposals for the state symbols of the Union of Russia and Belarus continues, and their approval falls within the competence of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union. The fact that the Union State needs a common symbol associated with a common history was first announced by Dmitry Mezentsev in November 2021.
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