Belarus and Russia to launch common markets in 2021


The Kremlin has insisted on deepening integration since 2018.
Photo: Sergei Karpukhin / TASS / Forum

On September 5, Minister of Economy of Belarus Dzmitry Krutoy spoke about the action plan calendar to deepen integration with Russia, BelTA reports.

Head of the Ministry of Economy notes that on December 8, the leaders of the two countries should sign the program and package of road maps, as well as a number of agreements that address sensitive issues for Minsk. First of all, it has to do with gas.

The action plan will be a framework one, while the specifics will be described in the road maps. Then, in 2020, work on regulations will begin in order to launch common markets in the main areas from January 1, 2021, said the Minister.

However, Dzmitry Krutoy stressed that there might be deviations in time in certain sectors, as in some areas “people do not even understand the scale of the necessary changes”.

The Minister also admitted that there are still controversial issues between the parties, but it will be possible to assess the array of disagreements only when “industry experts sit down to road maps, stumble upon something”.

As for the price of Russian gas for Belarus from January 1, 2020, it will be determined in a separate intergovernmental agreement.

Earlier, Prime Minister Rumas said that the project of integration of Belarus and Russia contained no political elements. According to him, the program includes the principle of “two countries — one market”, while there are no political issues. According to this action plan, government agencies should develop 28 road maps in different sectors of the economy.

belsat.eu

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