2 Apr 2010 14:54

First accords to form common economic space to be readied by May 21

MINSK. April 2 (Interfax) - The first package of 14 agreements to form a common economic space within the Customs Union is expected to be readied for a meeting of the Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh prime ministers in Moscow on May 21.

"We will propose serious strategic solutions and the first package of agreements at the prime ministers' meeting in Moscow on May 21," Russian Vice-Premier Igor Shuvalov told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk on Friday.

"It is important to make a correct and balanced decision," he said.

"A serious and ambitious task of forming a common economic space by January 1 2012 is facing the Belarusian, Russian and Kazakh presidents and governments," Shuvalov said.

"This work has taken the European Union decades to accomplish. We have set ourselves the task of doing this work in less than two years, and doing it successfully," he added.

"We have been working intensively with our partners in Belarus and Kazakhstan, with whom we have established good working contacts," Shuvalov said.