The 56th session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia took place in Minsk on June 17. The parliamentarians discussed the results of the work of the Assembly over the past year and the priority issues for the further development of the Union State and the formation of a single legal space, including in the agricultural sphere.
Following the session of the Parliamentary Assembly, Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
told reporters that “in our work, we are avoiding the excessive solemnity of the events and focus on specific areas of work of the Parliamentary Assembly. The “governmental hours” has proven to be effective during the session of the Parliamentary Assembly. Today we discussed the main problems that require joint solutions with the ministers of agriculture of our countries.”
“All colleagues agree that it is necessary to intensify the formation of a single legal space, as well as update the agenda of our contractual relations in order to activate the action plan on implementation of the provisions of the Union Treaty,” said Viacheslav Volodin.
According to him, the decision was made that the next session of the Parliamentary Assembly will be held in the Russian Federation at the end of December.
Preparing for the anniversary of the Great Victory
During the session, the proposals of the parliamentarians of our countries on the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War were also approved. These proposals will be transferred to the Supreme State Council of the Union State, and their implementation will be taken on the parliamentary control of the Union deputies.
The parliamentarians paid special attention to the abolition of roaming between Russia and Belarus, the relevant order was previously given by presidents of the Russian Federation and Belarus Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko. Conciliation procedures between the governments of Russia and Belarus on this issue are continuing.
Continuing the dialogue with the government
During the session, the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Patrushev, spoke on the implementation of the priority areas and priorities for the further development of the Union State for 2018–2022 in the sphere of agriculture. His colleague, Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Belarus Anatoly Khotko, also presented his report.
Dmitry Patrushev said that a draft concept of the Union State program on the formation of a competitive base of genetic resources in livestock breeding sphere was prepared. This draft concept is undergoing an interdepartmental conciliation procedure. In addition, road maps on the removal of mutual restrictive measures for the supply of livestock and dairy products in 2019 are being developed.
Viacheslav Volodin recalled that the new format of hearing ministers of Russia and Belarus on key issues of the relationship between the two countries was tested for the first time last year. Then the ministers of communications presented their reports at the “governmental hour”. Belarusian parliamentarians consider this new format effective.
“One of the tasks is to ensure equal conditions for the access of goods, works, and services from Russia and Belarus to the markets of the Union State. I would like to note that the turnover of agricultural products and foodstuffs between our countries shows a positive trend. In 2018, it grew by 8% and amounted to more than $5 billion,” said Dmitry Patrushev, noting that growth continued in the first quarter of 2019.
“Thus, the Republic of Belarus takes the first place among all our trading partners in relation to the volume of commodity circulation of agricultural products,” said the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that the supplies of Russian products to the Belarusian market ‘significantly exceed’ the volumes of Belarusian supplies to the market of our country.
“Therefore, in order to respect the mutual trade interests in the agricultural sphere, a mechanism of a forecast balance of supply and demand has been used between Russia and Belarus for many years. I will note that we intend to monitor the strict observance of the agreements reached on this issue,” said Dmitry Patrushev.
He also drew attention to the development of food security and the joint ensuring of import substitution. The parliamentarians discussed with ministers work on the formation of a single legal space of Russia and Belarus.
Dmitry Patrushev stressed that the Russian side is always open to the further development of relations with Belarus within the framework of integration processes.
