Lebedev: CIS nations are determined to intensify mutual trade

The CIS member states are pulling out all the stops to step up mutual trade, CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev told reporters, BelTA has learned.

According to him, the removal of restrictions in mutual trade is a very important issue for the CIS countries. “Representatives of the CIS Executive Committee and I attended the Eurasian Economic Forum and the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in Moscow. I was present there and I saw that all the heads of state supported the idea to lift or at least minimize restrictions in mutual trade in the near future. This is very important,” Sergei Lebedev said.

“We were placed under unreasonable sanctions. Western states are pursuing an aggressive policy towards us; they do not only restrict their trade with Russia, Belarus and other CIS countries, but also force other states to follow suit. This runs afoul of all existing international trade rules. They try to subjugate the whole world and to force countries of Asia and Africa to scale down their trade with Russia and Belarus. It is no secret that the countries of Central Asia also found themselves under enormous pressure. It is gratifying that at the recent meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and the Eurasian Economic Forum in Moscow, the EAEU member states reaffirmed their determination to support each other. We are looking further than the EAEU - at the CIS. We are now very closely interacting with the EAEU, and you saw that for the first time the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council was attended by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev who told journalists that they were ready to build closer contacts with the EAEU, to intensify cooperation,” Sergei Lebedev said.

“Being fully aware of the complexity of the situation, the CIS countries are taking all kinds of steps to boost mutual trade. And they are succeeding,” Sergei Lebedev stated.

A regular meeting of the Council of Permanent Plenipotentiary Representatives of the CIS member states to the statutory and other bodies of the Commonwealth is taking place at the CIS Executive Committee headquarters in Minsk on 30 May. The permanent plenipotentiary representatives are set to discuss preparations for the upcoming meeting of the CIS Heads of Government Council that is due to take place in Sochi on 8 June. The members of the CIS Heads of Government Council will discuss economic cooperation in the Commonwealth, the draft concept for promotion of industrial cooperation and a set of measures to implement the concept until 2030. They are set to sign cooperation agreements on the exchange of radiation monitoring information and on documenting of persons subject to forced deportation. They will also take a decision on launching a sports competition among children with disabilities and will approve the list of the CIS youth capitals for the next three years. In addition to that, the permanent plenipotentiaries will discuss talking points for the draft agendas of the regular meetings of the CIS Ministerial Council and the CIS Council of Heads of State that will be held in Bishkek in autumn.