“We instruct governments, central (national) banks of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Eurasian Economic Commission to implement coordinated measures to prevent and prevent the spread of coronavirus infection COVID-19, to strengthen our economic cooperation, to preserve the stability of the functioning of domestic, including food markets, to support citizens of our states and businesses to overcome the negative consequences of the pandemic COVID-19” , – In these lines of the joint statement of the Heads of State of the EAEC Member States in a concentrated form, the determination to overcome the formidable danger hand in hand is reflected.
The statement summed up the working meeting of the members of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which was held yesterday for the first time in the history of the EAEC in a remote mode. The Presidents took part in it: Belarus – Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan – Kasym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan – Sooronbai Zheenbekov, Russia – Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
A. Lukashenko, the initiator of the meeting, expressed his conviction that if each of the countries tries to protect only itself in the first place, it will, among other things, cause blurring of the Union’s foundations. “If we do not combine our efforts, tomorrow we will restore broken economic ties, and it will take a lot of time, money and labor,” he said.
From this point of view, the head of Belarus suggested, based on the principle of reasonable sufficiency, to preserve the transit traffic in the EAEC in the fight against the danger of the coronavirus, as he put it. “We carry out transit through Belarus in the interests of the EAEC, – ” he stressed. – At the border with the European Union, we check all those entering and transiting through Belarus and to Belarus. I believe that in this situation we should act within the limits of reasonable sufficiency. It seems to me that the transport corridor between the countries should be preserved not only in Belarus. It would be nice to define this corridor through Russia to Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and so on.
Chairman of the EAEC Board Mikhail Myasnikovich also spoke about the need for consolidated efforts on the basis of the agreements reached earlier within the EAEC as a means of preventing the Union’s foundations from being eroded, and he was given an opportunity to speak out during the meeting. Reporting to the heads of state on a set of urgent anti-crisis stabilization measures and measures to restore and further develop the economies of the EAEC countries, which were approved recently by the Intergovernmental Council with the participation of Prime Ministers, he summarized: “Where do we see the reserves? They are, of course, in the implementation of agreements reached by the countries. It is necessary to minimize restrictions in mutual trade and build confidence”.
It should be recalled that the Pandemic Coordination Council established by EEC monitors in real time the situation in the EAEC and assesses the needs and capacities of Member States to supply critical goods.
Each of the other participants in the meeting chose its own profiling theme, an aspect of the common problem on which it believes the success of cooperation in the face of severe coronavirus tests depends.
The President of Kazakhstan K.-J. Tokayev called not only to respond to the current situation, but also, learning lessons from the crisis, to think about joint measures for the medium and long term. “There is no doubt that the crisis will significantly change the global landscape of value chains. It is possible to start creating regional value chains based on the competitive advantages of our economies. The long-term sustainability of the EAEC depends directly on the sustainability of trade processes. Trade in goods at the moment is the main of four freedoms,” he stressed.
The President of Kyrgyzstan S. Zheenbekov is concerned about the difficult situation in which a large number of citizens of our countries found themselves in a pandemic. This is when the lack of a single mechanism for their social and medical support affected! It is also important to provide the population with basic foodstuffs, for which the Union has every opportunity. “Inside the EAEC there should be no restrictions on mutual trade in socially important goods”, – said S. Zheenbekov.
For his part, the President of the Russian Federation V. S. Zheenbekov said, “There should be no restrictions on mutual trade in socially important goods within the EAEC. Introducing the participants of the meeting to the measures taken in the Russian Federation to combat coronavirus and minimize the consequences of the pandemic for the economy, Putin emphasized that “it is possible to effectively counteract the pandemic only by combining the efforts of the international community… And, of course, we believe that close cooperation between the EAEC states is extremely needed”.
The Russian leader focused on how to strengthen and make more effective the anti-crisis work that is deployed through the Eurasian Union. Speaking, in particular, about the “green” corridor, open for import into the territory of the Eurasian Economic Community of socially important goods – food, medicines, medical equipment, personal protective equipment, he suggested expanding this practice. On the other hand, measures to restrict the export of critical medicines and equipment, socially important goods to third countries are justified, so as to prevent their shortage on the Union market if there is a need to help each other with the delivery of humanitarian aid and essential goods.
It is worth thinking about what the Russian President proposed, in order to reduce or zero customs duties on components and materials for economically and socially important industries, to generally support industrial production in our countries, those sectors of the economy that were most affected by the epidemic. We are talking primarily about air transport, tourism, hotel business, catering, culture and sports.
“I cannot but agree”, – Putin noted, – “that the methods of fighting the pandemic must be reasonable and proportional, not to break the decades-old cooperation ties, stop international trade and stop mutual investment. Already now, within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Community, it is necessary to start developing systemic measures to create conditions for recovery and further economic development. In particular, it is a question of intensifying the process of digitalization in logistics, which has already been mentioned, customs and tax procedures.
Taking into account the experience gained in the context of the pandemic, it was proposed to make adjustments to the draft Strategic Directions for the Development of the Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025, prepared for the next meeting of the Supreme Council on 19 May this year, strengthening the provisions related to cooperation in the field of health care. This is necessary in order to act more quickly, coherently and with greater impact in the event of a recurrence of such situations.
The working meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council members, thus, demonstrated the unanimity of their views that joint extraordinary measures are required to reduce the negative impact that the Coronavirus Pandemic has on all aspects of life.
Semyon Pozdneyev, “Rhythm of Eurasia“.