PM: Belarus, Russia building new model of relations in common economic space

Roman Golovchenko said that "the meeting considered two major sets of issues: the economic integration of Belarus and Russia, and the sustainable operation of the economy in the face of both western economic sanctions and also the threats of imposing additional sanctions against the economic entities of Belarus and some individuals."

“As for the integration work, the government reported on the results of the meetings with Russian colleagues, the negotiations which have been very active probably since last autumn,” Roman Golovchenko said. “Now, we are, in fact, entering the homes stretch in terms of coordination of all the Union State programs which deal with the development of the common economic space of the two countries in order to ensure a level playing field for business entities of Belarus and Russia. In general, these approaches have gained support. We are yet to finalize a few issues and complete all the work and prepare the documents for the heads of State on this matter during the summer."

“I would like to reiterate to quell insinuations here:

There is no compromising of the political or economic sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus,” the Belarusian head of government said. “We are building a new model of relations within the common economic space not only to create a level playing field. We seek to create some new models of the economy to make sure they develop in a fairly synchronous way. Since we are in the Union State, we are closely intertwined. So the economic models and the concepts of economic development should be similar," Roman Golovchenko noted.