P.Borodin: Formation of the Union State between Belarus and Russian does not presuppose creation of a federative state

During the press conference that took place in Minsk Pavel Borodin, State Secretary of the Union State, summed up the results of the decade since Union State formation and noted that today Belarusian-Russian programmes involve 26 thousand enterprises and secure 5 million jobs. Since 1999 the turnover has increased from $6 to $34 billion and now makes up one third of the CIS trade. The post-soviet area itself will soon be seriously reorganized.

During the press conference that took place in Minsk Pavel Borodin, State Secretary of the Union State, summed up the results of the decade since Union State formation and noted that today Belarusian-Russian programmes involve 26 thousand enterprises and secure 5 million jobs. Since 1999 the turnover has increased from $6 to $34 billion and now makes up one third of the CIS trade. The post-soviet area itself will soon be seriously reorganized.

At the same time Pavel Borodin emphasized that formation of the Union State between Belarus and Russian does not presuppose creation of a federative state. “There can be no question of including Belarus into the Russian Federation,” stressed Pavel Borodin. “What is at issue is a confederative state structure”. “All the things will remain: national emblems, anthems, etc.,” added the State Secretary, explaining that efficient union formation needs a sound normative legal basis rather than numerous posts of presidents and premiers.

“There are some problems which can’t be solved single-handed. These are: defence, security, customs regulation, credit and monetary policy as well as price formation. What one needs is an area, preferably with population of 300 million,” explained Pavel Borodin.