Opinions & Interviews

Call to coordinate efforts to combat coronavirus in EAEU

Mikhail Myasnikovich. Photo courtesy of the EEC

MINSK, 10 April (BelTA) – Amid the COVID-19 outbreak it is important to coordinate national decisions and take joint measures in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mikhail Myasnikovich said as he took part in a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council held via videoconferencing on 10 April, BelTA has learned.

“The sanitary and epidemiological situation in the world remains tense. Given these conditions, it is important to coordinate national anti-crisis decisions and take joint measures,” Mikhail Myasnikovich noted.

The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) and the governments of the EAEU member states have developed a set of joint crisis management measures. A draft resolution on measures taken in the EAEU to ensure economic stability in the wake of the pandemic is being considered at a meeting of the Eurasian Interstate Council on 10 April.

The proposed measures are divided into two packages. The first package is a set of urgent, temporary stabilization measures. It suggest the interaction of appropriate EAEU bodies in the conduct of sanitary and epidemiological measures, consultations on the situation on food markets, prompt supply of staple goods. Plans are in place to set up a green corridor for the import of critical goods, temporary reduction or zeroing of import customs duties on spare parts for certain industries.

The second package implies systemic measures for further economic development. “It includes measures to ensure macroeconomic stability and sustainability of financial markets and payment systems, to support enterprises of the real economy sector, to ensure greater participation of regional financial institutions (the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development and the Eurasian Development Bank) in the process of supporting our economies in the face of the pandemic,” Mikhail Myasnikovich explained. “We believe that the two key tasks – the fight against the infection and the work of the economy in these conditions - are extremely important and must be addressed in a comprehensive way,” the EEC top official added.

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