Business news

MINSK, 25 January (BelTA) – The potential of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will grow as soon as Belarus joins the World Trade Organization, Sergei Yezhov, Deputy Director of the First CIS Department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noted during a roundtable discussion dedicated to Russia’s EAEU presidency on 25 January, BelTA informs.

“Within the WTO framework, our countries’ potential will grow as soon as Belarus joins the organization. We will have every ground to promote the interests of each of the five countries and the EAEU in general in the WTO,” Sergei Yezhov remarked.

Interaction with the CIS countries remains among the EAEU’s priorities. “We have a number of overlapping economic storylines. Several CIS member states have a great interest in obtaining an observer status in the EAEU. Moldova has already voiced such an intention; Central Asian states have been showing this interest, too. We believe that the union should stay open in this regard,” he said.

Russia offers to make a wider use of the opportunities offered by interregional and cross-border cooperation between the EAEU members. In this context, the positive track record of cooperation between Russian and Belarusian regions should be taken into account. “Such cooperation is evident for both countries since it produces a good economic effect, in the first place. This approach has not been but into practice in the EAEU yet. We believe that with the assistance of the Eurasian Economic Commission, we get the same effect here,” the official underlined.