Belarus-Russia integration program to be finalized in November - Belarusian PM
MINSK. Oct 30 (Interfax) - An action program on enhanced integration between Belarus and Russia will be finalized and submitted to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin in November, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Rumas said.
"The ministries and the governments are doing a great deal of work now so as to submit what we are going to come up with to the heads of state in November," Rumas said at a meeting with Russian Audit Chamber Chairman Alexei Kudrin in Moscow on Wednesday.
The work on the action program is quite difficult, as the two economies have been developing on different tracks, "and it turns out it's not that easy to align them somehow today," Rumas said.
"There are some sensitive issues for the Belarusian side which we want to settle above all on this integration track. There are some issues that Russia prioritizes, and they do not always coincide [with Belarus's opinion]," he said.
The two countries are about to finalize 31 roadmaps covering virtually all sectors of the economy, he said.
"We want to infuse fresh blood into our union state treaty and make headway on the integration path practically on all economy tracks," Rumas said.
Kudrin said members of the joint board of the Russian Audit Chamber and the Belarusian State Control Committee who met in Minsk on Wednesday agreed that the two countries should have a broader view of the union state's objectives.
"Actually, we are facing precisely this objective today - as you said, infuse fresh blood and new strength into the union state's work and agreements. In this respect, we also stand ready to voice our view on these objectives, and this analysis should help us not only uncover some difficulties and risks but to formulate proposals as well," Kudrin said.
Moscow and Minsk are working to agree upon integration roadmaps as part of an updated action program for setting up a union state. Prime ministers Dmitry Medvedev and Rumas said earlier that the integration program and the roadmaps were to be submitted to the presidents in early December.