Mogilev hosts jubilee session of Union State Council of Ministers

Important moments for co-ordination of efforts

Mogilev hosts jubilee session of Union State Council of Ministers

In just over twenty years of the existence of the Belarus-Russian Union State, the Council of Ministers has met 45 times. Despite the heads of our two states meeting at least twice a year, the programme remains intensive, with 27 issues high on the agenda. This time, besides the adoption of several important Union State programmes, such as Automobile Components or DNA-identification, significant issues for discussion included the creation of additional conditions for the development of trade-economic collaboration, taking into account forecasts for demand and supply across key commodities in 2016.


During the Union State Council of Ministers session

Russia’s Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, opened the session, saying, “At present, the most vital thing is to ensure co-ordination of joint efforts as part of the Union State and the Eurasian Economic Union. This refers to a whole range of issues, such as the creation of new opportunities for the development of mutual trade. We need to support industrial production in our countries, continuing investment and innovation interaction and supporting the development of agriculture in both states, while removing existing trade barriers.”

Mr. Medvedev pointed out that Belarus and Russia need to expand sales of goods and services within the Union State and beyond, including across the Asian Pacific Region. Logistics infrastructure is vital, so our two states are determining a plan for a unified transport system.

The prime ministers of Belarus and Russia, Andrei Kobyakov and Dmitry Medvedev, have spoken a great deal about mutual trade. In the first three months of this year, trade turnover between our two countries totalled $5.3bn (down by almost 12 percent on the similar period of 2015). Although trade has fallen in Dollar value equivalent, physical sales volumes are gradually rising.

“We’re seeing positive dynamics in Belarus-Russia trade, with trade turnover totalling 102.6 percent, with exports amounting to 104.4 percent and imports — 101.6 percent,” asserts Mr. Kobyakov.

Mr. Medvedev also mentioned that the share of our two countries in each other’s trade turnover is ever rising. Over the previous year, Belarus’ share has increased by almost 1 percent, while Russian goods’ share in our imports has increased by 2 percent.

By Alexander Pimenov
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