Lukashenko urges to resolve current issues of cooperation with Russia
MINSK. July 9 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pointed out the importance of resolving the current issues in cooperation with Russia and not only strategic ones.
"The current issues, which we and Russia have a lot, must be resolved as well. For instance, Rosselkhoznadzor or some other watchdog in Russia, or maybe the government, has closed about 80 of our enterprises at present. Most likely the government," the BelTA state news agency cited Lukashenko as saying at a meeting with Union State Secretary Grigory Rapota in Minsk on Tuesday.
According to the president, the enterprises were shut down on the false pretext. "And any decision can be adopted and substantiated," Lukashenko said.
"If we're developing relations with each other in such manner how, well, how can we even talk about the common currency or joining or unifying our states? [...] This needs to be cleared. Things like that simply cannot happen in relations between two states," the president said.
Speaking about the situation surrounding the access to state orders, Lukashenko said that everyone should be on an equal footing, "both enterprises from Russia and Belarus."
"Either industrial cooperation, which we have been discussing a lot, or the tax maneuver, which was imposed on us instead of the customs duties, on which we were agreeing that they just must not exist in the EAEU [Eurasian Economic Union]. Much less in the Union State. Or that the actual deadline of negotiations for future supplies of natural gas and oil has already expired. A lot of issues. And they're not being resolved," Lukashenko said.
"And we agreed that while resolving strategic issues, we will simultaneously resolve tactical issues that lie on the surface as well. Because, in our view, there's nothing to talk about without resolving these issues. A lot of issues," he said.