Putin summed up the results of 2022 for the EAEU

On December 9, Bishkek hosted a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the second since the beginning of the year and the first in person, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin took part. This was reported by the press service of the Kremlin.

The meeting, in addition to the Russian leader, was attended by the rest of the heads of the member states: Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Presidents of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Presidents of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Sadyr Zhaparov, chairman of the EAEU in 2022, and Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mikhail Myasnikovich.

Separately, on the sidelines of the summit, Putin met with Pashinyan, discussing bilateral economic contacts and the problems of resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Baku and Yerevan have repeatedly stated their desire to reach a peace agreement by the end of the year, exchanging drafts of relevant documents in early December. However, as Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan stated on the morning of December 9, the parties have so far reached an agreement on only one point regarding the establishment of diplomatic relations in accordance with the Vienna Convention.

EAEU results for 2022 and development plans

As Putin said following the meeting, in 2022 the EAEU worked effectively and continued to “consistently develop in the conditions of volatility in global markets and the unfavorable world political situation,” and this year “timely and effective steps were taken that made it possible to stabilize the macroeconomic situation.” The Russian President noted that the decline in GDP in the EAEU by the end of 2022 will be 2.9%. “In the next one, we expect 0.9% and will continue to move in a positive trend,” Putin said.

The President noted that he hopes for a decrease in inflation in Russia in the first quarter of 2023 within 5% and that in the Russian economy “an obvious trend towards [ее] decline.” “This is important for all our countries, because macroeconomic indicators in the Russian economy in one way or another affect the economies of all our countries,” Putin said.

The President noted that in 2022, uninterrupted trade in all vital goods, including food and energy, was ensured in the EAEU space, Putin noted that energy tariffs in the association countries “dramatically differ from the corresponding tariffs of our neighbors in the West”, in particular , compared with the EU “ten or more times”. This, according to the Russian president, “creates appropriate conditions for economic development in our zone.”

Putin also noted that in 2020 the EAEU adopted a number of fundamental decisions in the field of removing the remaining customs and administrative barriers. “They interfere with free trade between our countries, and we must work more vigorously on this,” the head of state said.

Putin also announced the acceleration this year of work on the transition to national currencies in mutual settlements within the EAEU and the beginning of the process of creating a common payment infrastructure and integrating national financial information transmission systems.

Decisions of the Bishkek Summit

As a result of the meeting, 15 documents were signed. First of all, Putin mentioned the decision to establish a new specialized mechanism for financing industry in the EAEU. “Such a mechanism will allow lending and subsidizing promising joint projects, including those related to the organization of import-substituting industries,” the Russian president said.

Also, following the meeting of the heads of the five countries, a decision was made to establish a council of heads of authorized bodies of the EAEU states in the energy sector. “Russia, of course, supports the creation of such a coordination structure that will professionally deal with issues related to providing national economies with key energy resources on a long-term basis and the formation of common energy markets for the union,” Putin said.

In addition, as a result of the meeting, changes were adopted to the procedure for collecting indirect taxes when providing services in electronic form on the territory of the EAEU; the list of service sectors included in the corresponding single market in the unification space has been supplemented; approved the amount of the fee paid by business entities when applying to the EAEU Court and other decisions.

Priorities of Russia as the Chairman of the EAEU in 2023

Putin recalled that next year Russia will become the chairman of the association for the second time since the founding of the EAEU. According to him, in this status, Moscow will first of all be engaged in updating the strategic guidelines for development. In particular, Russia is stimulating the preparation of new documents for strategic long-term planning for the development of the EAEU and deepening integration within its framework, since the current ones are designed for the period up to 2025.

One of the key vectors for the long-term development of the EAEU, Putin called the strengthening of the technological sovereignty of its member states and the formation by them of a common innovation and industrial base in key industrial and agricultural sectors.

The President also noted that Russia will work in 2023 to continue efforts to jointly introduce information technologies in the EAEU space. Among the areas of their application, Putin named electronic document management, automatic exchange of transport and customs information between departments and carriers of the Union states, as well as the scope of labeling and traceability of goods.

In addition, Russia, according to Putin, proposes in 2023 to focus the work of the EAEU on building up investment cooperation, creating favorable conditions for mutual investment, simplifying administrative procedures and increasing guarantees for protecting the rights of investors. “We consider the harmonization of tax regulation regimes in the EurAsEC states and, for this purpose, the simultaneous introduction of advanced tax control mechanisms to be an integral element of such work,” the president said.

Finally, Putin, on behalf of Moscow, proposed to address issues related to the development of scientific, technical and educational contacts in 2023. In particular, this concerns the promotion of interuniversity cooperation, internships, academic exchanges, support for joint youth projects in the areas of entrepreneurship, volunteering, culture and sports.

Among the key areas in which integration within the EAEU should develop “in the next couple of years,” Putin at a press conference called the implementation of previously reached agreements. “Namely: to achieve the creation of a single gas market over the next two years, to form the principles of its work and move on to the practical implementation of a common electricity market,” the head of state said.

International relations of the EAEU

One of the documents adopted at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council was the decision to start negotiations with the United Arab Emirates to conclude a free trade agreement.

According to Putin, Russia welcomes the intensification of international business ties and contacts of the EAEU and “will further expand the range of preferential and non-preferential agreements with foreign partners.”

Putin also invited the leaders of the EAEU countries to the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and the Eurasian Economic Forum, which, according to him, are scheduled for May 24-25, 2023, as well as to the pre-New Year informal meeting of CIS leaders in St. Petersburg, the date of the last event, the Russian leader did not name.