Economic Departments of Belarus and Russia Arranged to Work Jointly

At the meeting of Union State Council of Ministers that took place in Moscow the participants examined more than 20 issues. Belarusian and Russian Heads of Governments signed a joint Plan of actions of the two countries seeking to minimize the consequences of the global financial crisis. At the same time, the board meeting of Belarusian and Russian Economic Departments which was held in Minsk shortly before looked into a number of crucial issues which promoted more effective work of the Union Council of Ministers.

At the meeting of Union State Council of Ministers that took place in Moscow the participants examined more than 20 issues. Belarusian and Russian Heads of Governments signed a joint Plan of actions of the two countries seeking to minimize the consequences of the global financial crisis. At the same time, the board meeting of Belarusian and Russian Economic Departments which was held in Minsk shortly before looked into a number of crucial issues which promoted more effective work of the Union Council of Ministers.

During the meeting with the Minister of Economic Development of Russia Elvira Nabiullina Sergey Sidorski said that “Belarus and Russia should take deliberate decisions for the benefit of their commodity producers in order to maintain the increase in flows of goods and funds (“BelTA”, 28.01.09; “Respublika”, 29.01.09). According to Belarusian Premier, the possibility to take advantage of both parties’ mechanisms, which is extremely important during the global financial crisis,” enables to hold a joint board meeting between Belarusian Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia (“Belorusskaya Niva”, 29.01.09).

For her part, the Minister of Economic Development of Russia Elvira Nabiullina characterized the joint board “as a very good tool not only for informing each other but also for working out joint actions under crisis conditions (“Solidarnost”, 28.01.09). Moreover, she emphasized the importance of cooperation in difficult economic circumstances. “We will be increasing the competitiveness of our economies which depends on reciprocity of our actions,” believes E. Nabiullina.

Speaking about the necessity to work jointly the members of the board didn’t fail to take into account some problems in consistency of decisions made. E. Nabiullina noted that “there are some situations when we understand each other pretty well” but at the same time there are some other situations which require further discussion (“BelaPAN”, 28.01.09; “Tovarisch”, 29.01.09).