Lukashenko named priorities and main tasks of Union State construction
At today’s meeting of the Supreme State Council in St. Petersburg, the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has voiced the priorities of the Union State and the tasks to be solved
The Belarusian leader stressed, “The main task in the industrial sphere is to intensify co-operation in the field of import substitution. A lot has been done already, and we have understood many of the points that we did not understand two years ago. They have not succeeded in bringing us to our knees. On the contrary, we have mobilised ourselves and done a lot. Basic intergovernmental agreements have been signed on the recognition of technological operations, the development of microelectronic technologies, the design and production of electronic components, electronic engineering, and the unified industrial policy. I am convinced that the decree prepared for signing will actually ensure mutual recognition of technological operations. I believe that our governments should take measures as soon as possible to implement it unconditionally, without any derogations or exceptions.”
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, it is also necessary to at all costs eliminate everything that hinders the mutual supply of goods, to equalise the conditions of activity for enterprises, to eliminate barriers in the field of public procurement, to lift restrictions on the transit of goods. “These topics are not new, but we still have enough rough edges in this regard.”
The President of Belarus added that the parties have not yet fully decided on the most important issues, “This concerns the creation of common markets for gas, oil and petroleum products. This is the time when we can safely make these decisions, and they will be beneficial for both Russia and Belarus. We regularly discuss these fundamentally important topics with Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin]. The agreements have been reached, and I think our governments need to implement them more actively – including those dealing with the logistics of transportation of Belarusian export cargoes through Russian ports. There are proposals to increase the capacity of the Oktyabrskaya railway towards the ports of St. Petersburg. It is clear that tens of millions of tonnes of Belarusian cargo have been reoriented from the ports of the Baltic States to St. Petersburg, Murmansk, and the Black Sea ports. Nevertheless, the tension is present.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that he had discussed this problem with Vladimir Putin several months ago, “It was decided that the Oktyabrskaya railway in the direction of St. Petersburg should work more intensively. At the initial stage, not much money and work are needed to restore the passing track. There were tracks, but – after Ukraine moved away from the transit of goods in the St. Petersburg direction – the observed situation has developed. Therefore, we will still need (this is important for Russia and Belarus) to restore the flow of goods in this direction.”
photos: www.president.gov.by
