Events

29 Jan 2024

Belarus, Russia approve main guidelines to implement Union State Treaty in 2024-2026

ST. PETERSBURG, 29 January (BelTA) – The main guidelines to implement the Union State Treaty in 2024-2026 were approved at the Union State Supreme State Council summit in Saint Petersburg, BelTA has learned.

The document seeks to improve to legal framework in order to make the most of joint economic potential and interaction in various fields; to promote projects in manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, transport, education, statistics, sports and tourism, science and technology, and mass media.

The main guidelines for the new three-year period contain 11 sections, including macroeconomics, tax and customs policies, financial market, cooperation in trade and consumer protection, integrated energy markets and safe operation of nuclear energy facilities. The document also contains a block on humanitarian cooperation, including a provision on the creation of a common information space.

The governments and central banks of the two countries were instructed to oversee the enforcement of the document, as well as, if necessary, to develop action plans to achieve the declared goals.

“The meeting of the Union State Supreme State Council reaffirmed the aligned nature of interaction between the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation. The parties reviewed the implementation of the 28 Union State programs and took decisions that will ensure a fundamentally different level of integration across 11 areas for the period until 2026. This is the most important decision that has been made by members of the Supreme State Council today,” State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev told reporters.

“Absolutely all documents [across 15 points of the agenda] were signed. The presidents instructed the Standing Committee to formalize cooperation proposals and incorporate them into draft acts of the Union State to be submitted to the heads of state and members of the Supreme State Council in line with an established procedure,” he said.

Participants of the Supreme State Council were briefed on the work done to fulfil the main guidelines to implement the Union State Treaty in 2021-2023 and the 28 Union State programs.

Over this time, five integrated information platforms have been created, including on traceability and labeling of goods, transport control, veterinary and phytosanitary control; currency and customs regulations have been harmonized; measures have been taken to ensure information security in the financial sector; unified rules for access to public procurement, rules of competition and trading activities have been developed; approaches to the formation of a unified industrial policy have been thrashed out; joint investment projects are being implemented; the terms of operation in the transport and communications markets have been determined; the terms for mutual access of tour operators to the tourism services of the two countries have been defined.

A number of measures have been implemented in other areas; several dozen agreements, laws, decrees and resolutions have been signed and adopted. This includes the provision of equal social security and employment rights to citizens of Belarus and Russia. The licensing procedure for hiring has been abolished.

A plan of events to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Union State Treaty has been approved. The anniversary date is 8 December 2024. The key event will be an expert and media forum on integration. The action plan also provides for the issuance of medals “For contribution to the Union State development” and an anniversary medal dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Union State Treaty.

The participants of the Supreme State Council summit approved the foreign policy coordination program for 2024-2026. The previous document was valid in 2022-2023. The new program is fully aligned with the current international developments. Along with traditional approaches, the document contains new measures on strengthening the Union State, the EAEU, the CIS, and the CSTO and their standing in the international arena. It contains provisions on interaction with the EU and European countries, cooperation on the OSCE platform, and joint response to destructive external pressure.

The parties made decisions on a number of other areas of cooperation. These include the unified industrial policy and the rules for confirming that goods were produced on the territory of the Union State.

Other items on the agenda included the upgrade of railway infrastructure, which is important for Belarus’ foreign trade. In 2023, transportation of Belarusian cargo by rail towards Russian ports increased 2.3 times over 2022. The two governments will prioritize the development of sections of Russian Railways and Belarusian Railways that run from Belarus towards ports of the northwestern region of Russia.