Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Mikhail Myasnikovich: Good afternoon again, Mr Medvedev and colleagues. We are happy to see you all in Minsk. There are lots of current issues for us to discuss. I think it is a good sign when there are issues to be discussed – that means that our integration and our relations are developing, and it is good that they are developing in many areas.
Many of the issues that I have prepared for discussion at today’s bilateral meeting have already been discussed at the meeting with Mr Lukashenko, and we discussed them face to face. But I wish to stress again that our main goal is equal rights and equal conditions for our companies. We have made good progress in creating a common economic space but there is no common market yet. And annoying things, such as exemptions or special trade terms, should be brought closer to our positions and removed in order to promote a common market, all the more so now that the Russian Federation is a WTO member. We congratulate you on this.
I think we will share a common position in the future. I think that these two positions that we have on transport service and on other issues can be an issue for the Eurasian Economic Commission, which includes many professional people who could resolve these issues under the leadership of deputy prime ministers.
As for the WTO, I think we have discussed it in sufficient detail. In the short-term the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission will discuss all these issues and then take a decision on all necessary conditions to prevent losses in the Belarusian economy. I hope that they make all these improvements within the third quarter.
Thank you for supporting the equal access of our commercial entities to the Russian market. Similarly I can confirm that access of Russian producers to Belarusian markets will be ensured without any restrictions.
The Belarusian government is often criticised for its lack of systemic reforms and market transformations. Yes, we have some deficiencies, we have discussed these with you, but currently the private sector is contributing two-thirds of GDP and half of taxes. Therefore, we will be happy to have Russian partners as shareholders, new owners on the Belarusian market, new landlords, owners of various infrastructure, network and branch projects, and so on. So you are welcome in Belarus – we are ready to discuss every issue of common interest. Thank you, Mr Medvedev.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you, Mr Myasnikovich. Colleagues, I absolutely agree with you: problems are a fact of life. However, it is always better to have problems that can be solved, because some problems can never be solved; and this means that our bilateral economic relations are far from simple. Thank God this does not apply to the current state of Russian-Belarusian relations. Our relations are on the rise. Trade is at the highest level in the history of Russian-Belarusian economic cooperation. This is both the result of our bilateral work and the result of creating a new integration association: I mean both the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space. But our objective is to consolidate these positive positions in the economic sector. What must we do to this end? Long-term Russian-Belarusian economic relations must be based not only on Russian supplies to Belarus and vice versa, but on joint projects that promote integration. I think that our government will achieve this objective only if such projects are not only launched but brought to completion.
Today is a very important day in the implementation of one such project, the construction of the nuclear power plant. The necessary documents will be signed and come into effect shortly. This is a remarkable event. It is a very big project, but not the only project. And hopefully other projects involving joint machine-building enterprises, car construction and other areas of cooperation will be implemented. If we make progress in this area, this will mean that our economic integration is showing qualitative growth, which would mean that our relations have a long-term foundation and do not depend on the international situation – on oil and gas prices, on machine-building production or other things. That will be a comprehensive result.
So let’s make progress in this area. We began talks, very detailed and concrete talks, in our meeting with Mr Lukashenko. We have just discussed a series of specific areas of cooperation. Let’s invite our ministers to say something to flesh out today’s talks, keeping in mind that we have already discussed a significant number of the issues. Thank you.
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Following bilateral talks, documents were signed in the presence of the prime ministers of Russia and Belarus
The following documents have been signed:
– general contract on the construction of a Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) between the government institution Directorate of NPP Construction (Republic of Belarus) and Atomstroyexport (Russian Federation);
– general agreement on cooperation between the Belarusian republican unitary enterprise of export-import insurance Beleksimgarant (Republic of Belarus) and the Russian Agency for Export Loans and Investment Insurance (Russian Federation).