Adoption of Russia-Belarus Union State programs to be expedited

MINSK. Feb 2 (Interfax) - The adoption of Russia-Belarus Union State programs will be expedited, from three or four years to one, State Secretary of the Russia-Belarus Union State Dmitry Mezentsev said.

"The meeting [with representatives of Belarusian ministries and agencies that serve as state clients in Union State programs and projects, taking place in Minsk on Thursday] addresses the implementation of a new procedure for work on Union State programs, which is established on the orders from the Union State Council of Ministers. It limits the period of work on a program draft to less than one year, compared to three or four years in the past," the state-run media outlet SB. Belarus Segodnya quoted Mezentsev as telling journalists.

"A program limit has also been set: its value won't exceed 500 million Russian rubles at the initial stage," he said.

"Four programs from last year are continuing. We also see four new programs to kick off this year. Three of them are dedicated to border security and development of the Union State's regional group of forces. Another program is devoted to membrane protein identification. This work derives from the need to study viruses, its importance is obvious in the context of problems caused by the recent coronavirus pandemic," Mezentsev said, adding that Belarusian and Russian scientists would be doing the research under supervision of the national health ministries.

Work done in this format has been successful, Mezentsev said. "In all, 68 Union State programs have been implemented. We have drawn up a work outlook for the period until 2027. It was particularly important to me to report such practices to Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. I also presented a detailed report to Belarusian President Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko at the beginning of this year and said we were increasing the number of possible projects and events of the Union State," he said.

The number of programs has grown by a third year-on-year, and about 2 billion Russian rubles have been allotted for them, Mezentsev said. This includes projects in education and culture and support for civil patriotic initiatives.