UPDATE: Mishustin sees Union State documents approved soon

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MINSK, Sep 10 (PRIME) -- Russia hopes that all the documents on creation of the Union State with Belarus in 2021 and 2022–2023 will be approved soon, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a meeting of the council of ministers of the Union State on Friday.

“We hope that all the documents will be approved by the Supreme State Council headed by presidents Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko,” he said.

Mishustin added that 28 documents on integration in various industries have been prepared by the governments, banking structures and the business society.

Integration between Russia and Belarus should be based on the principles of openness and mutual trust, and the states’ sovereignty should be maintained fully, while the citizens of both states should take advantage of the integration processes, he also said.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the presidents will finally approve the integration documents in October.

Mishustin said that Russia and Belarus have decided to increase the number of railway routes between their cities despite the coronavirus pandemic.

As seen by PRIME in a joint declaration of prime ministers Mikhail Mishustin and Roman Golovchenko, published on the Russian government’s website, Russia and Belarus will develop until July 2022 the principles of operations of the united gas market.

“The parties have agreed to coordinate their actions in formation of prices for Russian gas for Belarus for 2022, and development of the principles of operations and regulation of the integrated gas market of the Union State (by July 2022),” the document read.

Russia and Belarus have also agreed on integration of the national payment cards systems and will cooperate in the spheres of financial messaging, instant payments and financial technologies, the document also read.

The two states will also sign an agreement on united rules for customers’ rights protection until 2023, they will also unify airport, air navigation and railways tariffs.

Russia’s central bank and Belarus’s National Bank will strike an agreement on the principles and mechanisms of harmonization of the states’ monetary policies until December 2022, and will also unify their foreign currency regulation rules, as well as regulation of the entire financial market, including the principles of deposit insurance.

The states will also harmonize their legislation against money laundering and financing of terrorism.

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