Good afternoon,

First of all, I would like to once again greet all members of the Union Government, Mr Putin and the Russian delegation in Minsk, Belarus.

Today, we are holding the third Union Government meeting this year, as planned for the 2008 period.

The comprehensive nature of the work of the Council of Ministers of the Russia-Belarus Union State and its packed agenda has become a norm lately. In 2007 and 2008, we have made considerable headway in every integration cooperation sphere, primarily leading to more profound economic cooperation.

This is proved by the expanding bilateral trade turnover, which has reached 581 billion Russian roubles ($22.2 billion), a 60% increase on the previous year when the Russian-Belarusian trade turnover rose by 36%.

The bilateral trade turnover has soared by nearly 100% in the last 18 to 24 months. In my opinion, this is the most substantial growth. No other CIS country can boast such a trade turnover with the Russian Federation.

There is every reason to say that the bilateral trade turnover will reach at least 845 billion Russian roubles ($32.2 billion) before the year is out. Naturally, we must continue working actively in order to promote Union State integration processes.

Today, we must adopt several important decisions on budgetary issues. Together with our Russian colleagues, we support expanded union programmes and measures in every sphere of Union State development. The draft 2009 Union State budget, due to be examined by us today, convincingly proves this. There are plans to increase the 2009 budget by over 20% on 2008.

A Union State budget that has been drafted on time makes it possible to finance joint programmes starting with early 2009 and will allow project managers to implement them on schedule.

Mr Putin and I have agreed that if Union Ministers submit proposals on specific programmes to the Government, then we would be ready to channel additional funding into our Union budget throughout 2009. In effect, the budget can be expanded still further in order to implement specific Union programmes.

At the same, I consider it necessary to ensure a cost-effective implementation of the 2008 Union budget. Today, the State Secretary will report on some problems concerning red tape by Belarusian and Russian government officials implementing such programmes. It is my opinion that we must eliminate such barriers to the greatest possible extent and start working actively on the implementation of the programmes.

I would like to ask finance and economics ministries to study the possibility of establishing a joint Board involving the Permanent Committee of the Union State and to inform us about this at the Union Government's December 2008 meeting.

I think that the joint Board could facilitate coordination of efforts between the two specialised ministries, also enabling them to promptly settle bilateral cooperation issues and to prepare for their examination at the Union Government meeting. The timeframe for holding meetings of the Union State's specialised and functional bodies, approved by the Union Government this June, is yielding good results.

I would like to ask economics, energy, industry, education and culture ministries of our two countries to start working actively in this sphere in order to keep within the 2009 timeframe. Close cooperation between specialised ministries would lead to prompt examination of important issues and solution of current cooperation problems.

As I have already said, the sides have not yet settled all issues in the transport and customs sphere, although 96% of Belarusian and Russian customs tariffs have been standardised to date. This impressive result highlights the effective performance of our specialised ministries under Union Government auspices.

Belarus and Kazakhstan, members of the Eurasian Economic Community, should standardise customs tariffs by 2010, but have so far attained 40-50% standardisation. That is Belarus and the Russian Federation have moved considerably closer to the target we are to reach in 2010.

In my opinion, this would also facilitate the work of the Eurasian Economic Community's analysts. I think that we should also abolish the registration of Belarusian-registered trucks and passenger cars in Russia and the policy of their temporary importation into the Russian Federation.

The Government of Belarus has unilaterally decided not to hinder similar Russian motor vehicle traffic in Belarus.

Additional control procedures on the Belarusian-Russian border negatively affect the Union State reputation and hinder mutually beneficial trade.

This creates problems for our citizens, who have to stand in lines in order to register and to return authorising documents at notification acceptance offices.

These issues have been included in the agenda of the Government's October 7 meeting, and are called on to expand Union State trade and economic cooperation and make it more effective.

I am convinced that the October 7 meeting will expedite Union State development still further. We will adopt important decisions that will form the basis of our activities next year.

Mr Putin, thank you for finding time to come to Minsk and to work together with us today.

Opening remarks by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin:

Dear Mr Sidorsky, dear colleagues,

Today in Minsk, we are holding a regular meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Russia-Belarus Union State. Its agenda is packed with nearly all the key issues of Russia-Belarus integration.

We will focus on deepening our economic interaction. It is clear to all that the economy should be the catalyst of the whole union-building process.

As Mr Sidorsky has said, we have made sustainable progress here. Regular working agencies have been established at the Council of Ministers, including a commission on tariff and non-tariff limitations and a coordination commission for a single transport system. We are forging a direct dialogue between the two countries' ministries and departments.

Let me also point out the rapid growth of mutual goods turnover, 60%, which my counterpart has cited here. Russia doesn't enjoy such rapid trade growth with any other country.

We should now review the disposal of the Union budget through the first half of 2008 and, from this perspective, work on our main financial document for the coming year - the 2009 draft Union budget.

The draft proposed already contains over 40 Union State programmes and projects.

We have heard President Alexander Lukashenko spell out his position at today's meeting. He said we should focus on major breakthrough projects.

I fully agree with Mr Lukashenko that we need to aim for tangible breakthrough results when drafting new Union programmes, especially in high-tech industries.

Therefore, I believe that we should focus on decisions for planned common research-and-technology cooperation, and for a common information zone.

Of the discussion issues on today's agenda, I would like to draw your attention to the registration, valuation and management of Union State assets. It is an extremely important task to make our common asset management more efficient and effective.

We will also have to discuss the 2009 maintenance plan for the Russia-Belarus regional group of forces, and a number of other important mutual issues.

I also fully agree with Mr Sidorsky that we are making good progress in establishing a customs union. At least experts in both countries confirm substantial progress in this direction, especially in Belarus. We certainly appreciate the efforts made by Mr Sidorsky, the government and president of Belarus. We hope to continue at this pace.

In Russia, the relevant documents still need to be ratified. I am confident that we will adopt them early because they enjoy the support of Russian lawmakers. We will also work with the executive power bodies.

I expect us to work today in a traditional businesslike and constructive environment.

Thank you. Let us get on with our work.