Working meeting of members of Supreme Eurasian Economic Council

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Countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) should be united amid the pandemic, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said during a video conference meeting of members of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on 14 April.

“We have treated the problem involving the pandemic which was declared by the WHO very seriously. Every country is working out its own resolutions and forms of response. But together we can do more,” the Belarusian leader stressed.

The President suggested discussing the topics of ensuring stability and accord in the society, preventing attempts to tear up the foundations of the EAEU because of the striving for, first of all, self-protection. “If we do not join efforts, we will have to restore destroyed economic ties tomorrow, and it will take us a lot of money, time and energy,” the Belarusian head of state is convinced.

In his words, what is currently going on in the world reinforces the expressed concerns: the virus is destroying lives and families, disrupting the operation of the markets and whole industries, having a serious impact on the state of affairs in the oil industry.

“Unilateral activities of states have endangered trade relations, cooperation chains, labor migration. The absence of coordinated efforts aggravates these negative factors. Therefore, egoistic decisions which are made without regard to consequences at least in relation to the closest partners will be strategically futile. Only unity and commitment can help us cope with the pandemic and its consequences in the today’s situation,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that the Eurasian Economic Commission has initiated a number of measures, which can be viewed as high-priority measures. However, they do not include the whole range of necessary actions and do not utilize the potential of the EAEU in full. “Every one of us has already started to apply effective practices to ensure life safety and health of people and to support national economies,” the President said.

He called for resolute joint actions, urged to consider not only the current developments but also the future prospects, asked to think about the formation of the regional “security belt” by speeding up the establishment of import substitution enterprises and localizing industries of critical importance on the territory of the union. “Besides, we need joint mechanisms of response to global crises of a new kind – epidemical ones. We also need joint norms and plans of action in emergency situations to minimize risks,” the Belarusian leader believes.

“I am absolutely convinced about one thing: it will be easier for us to survive this global crisis together. There are no other options. The logic of any union and any relations relies on togetherness. It will be even better if all our actions are deprived of national egoism, if all our decisions are harmonized with a joint vector,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The head of state remarked that all necessary measures are being taken in Belarus to prevent the spread of all infections. "I would like to assure you that all necessary measures are being taken in the Republic of Belarus to prevent the spread of all infections. They fully comply with the requirements and norms of the World Health Organization,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.
He noted that although Belarus has not closed the borders, sanitary and quarantine measures are being taken with respect of all those who enter the country. The information about the disease incidence is constantly monitored and made public.


Aleksandr Lukashenko outlined the most important issues the Eurasian Economic Union has to address in the face of the pandemic. First of all, he emphasized the importance of preserving transit flows. Secondly, he urged to keep reconciling decisions and applying common rules regulating external trade, which is the core part of the union. Thirdly, the President deems it necessary to take effective measures to deepen cooperation in the manufacturing industry.

The President told his counterparts about measures taken by Belarus: “You all know that we have retained transit via Belarus in the interests of the EAEU. We check all arrivals on the border with the European Union. These are mostly trucks. We check drivers and do it very rigorously. We have earmarked three corridors for heavyweight trucks that transport goods via Belarus. The bulk of the cargo they carry is meant for your states. We have designated the rest areas for these truck drivers and established a tough control over there. In other words, there are no obstacles at all. More than that, there has not been a single incidence of rejecting arrivals from your states and any other states if these people comply with the rules established by Belarus.”

“I believe we should act within the limits of reasonable sufficiency. I think that some transportation corridor between the states should remain in place and not only in Belarus. It would be good to establish such a corridor via Russia to Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and so on,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.

In his words, there are proposals to designate the routes and the rest areas where drivers can have a rest and refuel. In these areas enhanced preventive measures should be in place, like it was done in Belarus. “These channels will be available to our nationals who return home,” the President noted.

“Belarus is acting responsibly. We are not closing the border and we do as much as we can to help our people come back home,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The President also dwelled on common rules regulating external trade. “Exemptions are possible in exceptional cases. However, in general we need to keep reconciling our decisions,” the Belarusian head of state said.

In his words, first of all this pertains to meeting domestic needs in products that are currently in high demand or some critical products. First of all, these are medical supplies, including medicines, equipment and protective gear.

“Taking into consideration that the whole world is now seeking to bulk up their medical supplies, it would be a very lucrative business to sell such products to third countries. However, one of the goals of the union is to improve the living standards and the quality of life of our citizens. Therefore, even if we want to send humanitarian aid to third countries, I would suggest putting the needs of the EAEU market first. The same pertains to other types of assistance for our nationals,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

He believes that in the current situation the risk of disruptions in the manufacturing sector – the foundation of any economy – and manufacturing ties has never been so high. “We spent more than six years building these ties and the work is still in progress. We can put everything we have achieved at risk even unconsciously by using popular infection containment measures. How will we restore our capacities and technological chains when the pandemic is over?” the Belarusian President wondered.

“You have already noticed, even the so-called democratic European states and the USA, to say nothing of China, came to their senses very fast. Today some of them, experiencing the peak of the pandemic, are scaling down their response and taking some steps to facilitate economic recovery. Indeed, we see an increasing number of stories in the media signaling about imminent hunger even in the rich countries of the European Union. Therefore, we should no way move along the path that will lead us to economic destruction,” the Belarusian leader said.


Aleksandr Lukashenko called for meaningful expansion of cooperation in the manufacturing sector. “If we use raw materials of each other in manufacturing, this should be mutually taken into account while subsidizing the final product. Thus, it is of paramount importance that governments should incorporate regulations about manufacturing subsidies into national legislations,” the President stated.

Aleksandr Lukashenko believes that this decision will help resolve the following problems: “The majority of international experts share a view that the world will face food shortages after the pandemic. Large-scale quarantine measures around the world disrupted production cycles in agriculture.”

According to the President, the increased demand for foodstuffs has made it clear that this issue should be addressed at the highest level. “By taking timely decisions, we will be able to produce enough food products,” the head of state is convinced.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also deems it necessary to support worst-hit economic sectors. “We cannot disregard general macroeconomic measures. At the same time, we need to come up with universal and flexible instruments to support the sectors that were affected the worst by the decrease in economic activity,” the President underlined.

In his view, to this end it is necessary to promptly adjust the operation of the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development and the Eurasian Development Bank to meet current economic needs. “The fund should be tasked and authorized to take fast decisions on easing procedures for receiving aid. By the way, all international financial organizations have already done it, including the International Monetary Fund. These can be sovereign loans, stabilization loans, grants to support healthcare systems. The Eurasian Development Bank could also support its borrowers from our countries by restructuring their debts on projects, by providing targeted loans on soft terms and offering additional mechanisms of fast response,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.

According to the Belarusian President, there are unresolved problems in the sphere of energy industry and prices for energy resources. “I would like to point out that we entered the crisis while a problem of fundamental importance for the steady operation of the economy was unresolved. I am talking about prices for energy resources and payments for them. Certainly, we didn’t expect such a situation to emerge. Nevertheless, the facts are obvious. Such inflexibility negatively affects the entire chain of formation of the added value. Which means it undermines the stable operation of the union,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

He remarked that since the member states have yet to create common energy markets in the Eurasian Economic Union, it is necessary to come to an agreement on how to proceed in the current situation. “Primarily with regard to prices for and payments for natural gas. It is obvious that due to the drastic change of the economic situation the price should be more adaptive while the mechanism of payments should be affordable for consumers,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.

He addressed President of Russia Vladimir Putin with a request to promptly consider the matter.


Following the working meeting the leaders of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union - members of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council adopted a joint statement in connection with the pandemic COVID-19.

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that the joint statement is intended to provide political support for the efforts to solve top-priority economic and social issues in the EAEU member states. “I believe that the main conclusion of this meeting is that we need to promptly adopt strategic forward-looking decisions," the Belarusian leader said summing up the event. “They will enable us to quickly recover from the crisis and return to a sustainable path of building the EAEU economic space,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.

Plans are in place to continue the discussion of the topic in more detail at the forthcoming EAEU summit. "I think that on 19 May we will discuss these issues more thoroughly: our strategy, restoration of our union, our economies, people's lives after the pandemic. Our union should be able to confront not only these challenges but also other threats. I am confident that we will learn good lessons from the current situation. Unity is the key to overall success in any difficult situation. We are ready to work together to overcome the problems and challenges we face,” the President said

Aleksandr Lukashenko invited the EAEU leaders to come to Minsk for the summit on 19 May. He assured that the Belarusian side would take all necessary measures to ensure safety of the summit participants. “I am waiting for all of you in Minsk. I guarantee you complete safety and I am confident that you will enjoy your stay in the capital of Belarus as always,” the head of state said.

The joint statement notes that the coronavirus infection COVID-19, the pandemic declared by the World Health Organization and described as a public health emergency, is of international importance. It leads to a significant reduction in population mobility, makes it difficult to trade in goods and services, creates volatility in global financial and commodity markets, and disintegration risks for world and regional economies.

In this situation, the leaders of the EAEU countries decided to join forces to confront the common threat. “We reaffirm our readiness to continue the close work to eliminate the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, maintain the achieved level of integration cooperation and promote further economic development of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union, ensure social and macroeconomic stability in our countries, maintain business and investment activity,” the joint statement reads.

The heads of state advocate the unity of the international community and the stability of the world economy, the principle of freedom of movement of goods, including socially important products, staple foods, medical equipment, medicines and PPE. “The measures taken by our states are aimed at mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economies of our countries and ensuring the functioning of the common economic space. We believe that the restrictions imposed around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic are a forced measure which will be lifted once the threat to people’s lives and health is gone,” the statement runs.

The EAEU presidents are ready to continue providing assistance to each other, strengthening healthcare systems, conducting joint research in the development of disease prevention means, diagnosis and treatment of infections, improving the algorithms of cooperation in response to the epidemic.

The governments and central banks of the members of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Eurasian Economic Commission have been instructed to coordinate measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, strengthen economic cooperation, preserve stable operation of the domestic, including food, markets, help individuals and businesses to deal with the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We firmly believe that the benefits of integration will help our countries and peoples overcome this challenge,” the leaders of the EAEU countries stressed.