The gas and oil products markets will unite in 2023.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at a press conference following a meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko that 28 programs regulating the creation of a Union State of Russia and Belarus had been agreed upon.
According to the TC “Russia-24”, further approval of the programs should be given by the governments of both countries (September 10) and the Supreme Council of the Union State (by the end of the year). The contents of the 28 projects were not disclosed.
It is known that access to public procurement, industrial policy, energy, gas and oil markets will be combined.
The agreement on this will be signed by both countries in 2023, on December 1, Vladimir Putin said.
It also became known that next year the cost of 1 thousand cubic meters of natural gas for Belarus will remain at the current level, inflation will not be taken into account. It will amount to $ 128,500 for 1 thousand cubic meters.
Also, from September to December of this year, Minsk will receive a loan of $ 630 million from Moscow.
In addition, to the surprise of the Belarusian leader, the Russian Federation lifts restrictions on flights between Russia and Belarus against the background of the pandemic. Vladimir Putin said this at a joint conference, which surprised the Belarusian partner.
“You didn’t tell me about this,” the grateful Lukashenko was surprised.
We can expect that in the near future the volume of flights will grow from 36 per week to the previous norms (200).
Recall that the treaty on the creation of the Union State of Russia and Belarus was signed in 1999 by Yeltsin and Lukashenko.
While preserving sovereignty, independence, state structure and territories, it was supposed to unite the countries in the defense, foreign policy, monetary, tax, energy and transport spheres.
After 20 years, the development of integration roadmaps began, which led to the appearance of 28 programs.
In the spring of this year, 27 out of 28 were agreed, the exception was only for gas prices. Minsk wanted to equalize prices with the domestic regions.
The Russian Cabinet of Ministers believed that Belarus, in order to get ” gas, as in the Smolensk region,” should become part of the Russian Federation.
As Topnews wrote earlier, Lukashenka arrived in Russia to discuss the integration of the Russian Federation and Belarus.