The Russian-Belarusian Interparliamentary Commission for Interregional Cooperation held a meeting.
A meeting of the Interparliamentary Commission for Interregional Cooperation of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation and the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus was held on the sidelines of the 8th Forum of Russian and Belarusian Regions.
The event was chaired by the commission’s co-chairs, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of Russia Yury Vorobyov and Deputy Chair of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Anatoly Isachenko.
In his opening remarks, Yury Vorobyov recalled that the previous, 7th Forum of Russian and Belarusian Regions had produced tangible results. Some 80 constituent entities of Russia are involved in interregional cooperation with their partners in Belarus. “The Republic of Bashkortostan, the Samara Region, the Stavropol Territory, the Kursk Region, the republics of Komi and Kabardino-Balkaria, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area and other Russian regions are actively developing cooperation ties with their Belarusian partners,” Yury Vorobyov pointed out.
The Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council said that 14 companies with Belarusian capital were active in Bashkortostan. The sides are not only discussing increased deliveries of automotive, agricultural and construction equipment from Belarus but also its assembly in the region.
“Joint projects are underway in education and science. For example, Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University in the Republic of Komi has signed several cooperation documents with three educational establishments in the Grodno Region of Belarus,” Yury Vorobyov noted.
The Senator mentioned an increase in trade and economic ties. Last year, mutual trade reached $29.5 billion and went up by 21 percent in January through March of 2021 year on year.
“Belarus is Russia’s fourth largest international trade partner and the largest among CIS nations. Russian investment in the Belarusian economy exceeded $4 billion last year. Our largest joint project is the construction of the two-unit Belarusian nuclear power plant,” Yury Vorobyov pointed out.
He added that one of the main spheres of integration ties was the implementation of interstate programmes, which are co-financed from the budget of the Union State. Considerable experience has been accumulated in this sphere over the past few years, but there are also bottlenecks, “primarily when it comes to the timeframe and effectiveness of the implementation of interstate programmes.”
In this connection, Yury Vorobyov expressed confidence that solutions to current problems in the two countries’ business and cooperation ties would be found at the meeting of the Interparliamentary Commission for Interregional Cooperation.
The Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council emphasised the importance of implementing a coordinated policy of the Union State in the fields of environment and natural resources. “Russia and Belarus have been cooperating in environmental protection and hydrometeorology for many years now,” he noted.
Yury Vorobyov offered greetings to the meeting participants on the International Day of Parliamentarism, which is celebrated every year on 30 June.
Deputy Chair of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Anatoly Isachenko, a co-chair of the Interparliamentary Commission for Interregional Cooperation, pointed out that the current meeting offered an opportunity to discuss bilateral interaction, the role of regions in that important process and the prospects of cooperation between economic entities. “It is an extremely important subject, especially in the context of import substitution, which is a major component of the industrial policies of Belarus and Russia,” he said.
First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Government and Northern Affairs Andrei Shevchenko talked about the implementation of the decisions adopted at the 7th Forum of Russian and Belarusian Regions.
He recalled that seven cooperation agreements had been signed at the previous forum between the Government of Belarus and the executive authorities of Russian regions. “It is in large measure thanks to the efforts of our countries’ parliaments that we continue to strengthen and further develop cooperation between Russian and Belarusian regions, which have reported positive results within the framework of the agreements signed,” Andrei Shevchenko pointed out.
According to him, the Samara Region and Bashkortostan are most actively developing trade and economic ties with their Belarusian partners within the framework of the agreements signed during the 7th Forum. The Stavropol Territory and the Kursk Region can also report large-scale trade and close ties with Belarus, while the republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Komi and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area are working energetically to implement their cultural and humanitarian projects with their Belarusian partners.
Andrei Shevchenko noted that the documents the regions submitted to the Federation Council Committee highlight the importance of the documents on cooperation between the Russian and Belarusian regions and cities signed at the Forum. “Their effect includes not only the revival and further development of mutual trade and business, scientific, cultural and educational ties, but also progress in the creation of a common economic, social and cultural space of the people of Russia and Belarus,” he said.
Deputy Economic Development Minister of Russia Dmitry Volvach and First Deputy Minister of the Economy of Belarus Yury Chebotar reported on the further development of business ties and cooperation between their countries’ economic entities.
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia Sergei Anopriyenko and Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus Andrei Khudyk updated the meeting participants on the implementation of a coordinated Union State policy in the sphere of environmental protection and natural resources.
State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev reported on the energetic preparations for the upcoming meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State and for the subsequent meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State, which is scheduled to take place in autumn 2021. These preparations will focus on coordinating the new draft concepts of Union State programmes and collecting proposals from the republican and federal ministries and agencies concerned on the programmes of great significance for both countries. Dmitry Mezentsev encouraged members of parliament to more actively contribute to these efforts.
During the meeting, the participants also coordinated and adopted a framework agenda for the next, ninth meeting of the Interparliamentary Commission for Interregional Cooperation, which will be held in the Republic of Belarus in 2022.
The event was also attended by Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin, senators of the Russian Federation and representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, the two countries’ executive authorities, Union State agencies and the Russian and Belarusian expert communities.