RUSSIA, June 21 - Mikhail Mishustin: “The pressure the collective West is putting on the individual member states of the union is becoming stronger and affects all of them. Our economies are inextricably linked; therefore, we need to respond to the unfriendly steps together. The main goal is to minimise the impact of sanctions on the people and strengthen macroeconomic stability.”

Delegation heads taking part in an expanded meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council:

Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan;

Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko;

Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov;

Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic – Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office of the Kyrgyz Republic Akylbek Japarov;

Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin;

Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba Manuel Marrero Cruz (via video link-up);

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan – Minister of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction of the Republic of Uzbekistan Jamshid Kuchkarov;

Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mikhail Myasnikovich.

Mikhail Mishustin’s remarks at a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council:  

Mr Japarov,

Mr Golovchenko,

Colleagues,

First of all, I would also like to warmly thank our Belarusian colleagues for organising our meeting.

Today, we are meeting on the eve of a significant date. The Great Patriotic War, which began 81 years ago, on 22 June 1941, claimed tens of millions of lives. Russia marks this date as the Day of Memory and Sorrow. Our fraternal nations fought heroically at the front and worked selflessly at home. It is the duty of current and future generations to preserve the memory of the Great Patriotic War and to prevent the rewriting of the history of our Victory.

And now, let us discuss the topics of today’s meeting.

Quite recently, in May, we marked the eighth anniversary of signing the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union. This is a short period of time for an international organisation. The EAEU quickly proved its effectiveness and relevance, and it also confirmed its ability to promptly respond to various challenges and risks.

As President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin noted at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, intra-EAEU trade continues to expand, and it is growing more quickly than trade with other states.

We also have good results in other key areas of cooperation including industry, finance and agriculture. Most importantly, the citizens of our countries feel the benefits of integration in their daily lives. The Russian President noted this in his speech at the recent Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting.

It is important to ensure the further progressive development of Eurasian integration and to overcome together the results of instability in the international economic system during this new, difficult geopolitical reality.

The collective West’s pressure on the individual states of the five countries is growing. This affects all members of the union. Our economies are closely connected, so we can only effectively respond to unfriendly steps together.

The main goal is to minimise the impact of the sanctions on citizens and strengthen macroeconomic stability.

Necessary decisions are made as part of the implementation of the list of measures to improve the sustainability of our economies. New initiatives are being discussed in the special high-level working group.

I will elaborate on the most significant areas that should be given special attention.

First is the work on creating conditions for businesses to operate normally in the current situation. To do this, the rules for unified customs, customs-tariff, non-tariff and technical regulation are being adjusted. We suggest expediting the transition to our own international financial and settlement mechanisms, and expanding the practice of using national currencies in foreign trade transactions with those countries that have proven to be reliable partners.

It is necessary to step up cooperation in import substitution as well, I mean priority high-tech industries. By the way, we saw an excellent example of this yesterday when we visited Amkodor with Roman [Golovchenko] and the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan.

We must reduce our dependence on foreign imports and launch our own joint innovation projects to develop and produce the products we need.

We will need to use the competitive advantages of all union members, cooperation in ICT, aerospace manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

We also suggest intensifying cooperation on the digital agenda. The introduction of advanced technologies reduces many types of cost, especially in planning, in decision-making, and when putting plans into practice. The development of a digital marking system in the EAEU is a promising area in this regard. This has already proven effective. We will continue to improve the regulatory legal framework for internal and external trade in the union, and coordinate our steps to combat the illegal trafficking of industrial products.

More to be pоsted soon...