Republic

Sergei Sidorskiy: Belarus confirms readiness for Customs Union

Belarus confirms its readiness for setting up the EurAsEC Customs Union and keeps to the previously stated positions, Belarus prime minister Sergei Sidorskiy stated in Minsk today, as he met with EurAsEC secretary general Grigoriy Rapota. Sergei Sidorskiy noted, 18 issues are being prepared for the next meeting of EurAsEC heads of government. The meeting is scheduled to take place in Astana in April. The recent session of the EurAsEC Integration Commission showed, several tasks had not been accomplished. Out of 24 agreements 18 have been prepared. The prime minister reminded, “We agreed to inform the heads of state about the formation of the package of documents regulating the creation of the single customs union”. The work was to have been done by January 1, 2007. But, unfortunately, the process has not been completed. There is disagreement concerning several documents. “We should think and decide what answer we should give to the presidents of EurAsEC states, what way out of the situation we will find”, stated the prime minister. During the meeting of Sergei Sidorskiy with Grigoriy Rapota it was also noted, the Russian side had withdrawn five documents from the discussions. “We would like to know what the Belarusian side should do in this case. If it means our colleagues have abandoned the construction of the Eurasian space, let’s discuss it”, said the Belarusian premier. Continuing his thought, Sergei Sidorskiy said EurAsEC heads of governments have things to talk about during the next summit, including the failure to accomplish tasks. The Belarusian premier also made statements concerning Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation. “We have supported and will support the Russian Federation in its efforts to enter the WTO. We make synchronous steps in the negotiations”. Sergei Sidorskiy added, Kazakhstan is said to “try on” different views, considering removing all barriers to minimise WTO entry costs. “Then it won’t settle problems of the single customs union”, he underlined. Sergei Sidorskiy believes, a certain progress in preparing the Customs Union documents has to be made by April. “We haven’t yet accomplished the main tasks. Today we should know what decision we need to do the job in the time we have”, said the prime minister of Belarus.