Unbreakable budget
On Wednesday the Council of Ministers of the Union State convened for a meeting chaired by Russian and Belarusian Prime Ministers Vladimir Putin and Sergei Sidorsky respectively. Both parties committed to make their planned contributions to the budget of the Union State in full despite the recession.
Shortly before the meeting, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a $700 million loan to Belarus. However, this is not enough for Minsk. It was counting on another $500 million from Russia but it is now expected that this money will come from the Eurasec Anti-Crisis Fund. Moscow has no comment.
A certain tension, evident at the beginning of the meeting, only increased when State Secretary of the Union State, Pavel Borodin, was left with out a seat at the negotiating table. The President Hotel library hosted the bilateral talks which waited as Borodin scrambled to find a chair.
The closed meeting dragged on for three hours, although the meeting of the Council of Ministers lasted only a couple of minutes.
"It is obvious that we should concentrate on issues having to do with economic integration," stated Putin to narrow the focus of the talks.
The prime ministers exchanged the latest figures prompting Putin to extol the cooperative action plan to deal with the recession. Sidorsky expressed concern over the decline in bilateral trade adding that it would be desirable to rectify this gap by the end of the year. (Bilateral trade fell by a stunning 42.2% in 2009 - Izvestia.)
"It is necessary to thoroughly review how efficiently Union funds allocated for joint programmes are being spent. High-tech projects remain one of our highest priorities," Putin said, moving on to the core of the matter.
A general outline for the budget of the Union State for 2010 was approved unanimously and without delay.
"Despite the well documented difficulties, we have found a way to maintain the current level of contributions to the Union State's treasury," the Russian prime minister told the press after the meeting.
"The Union State's budget totaled 4.87 billion roubles in 2009, Russia and Belarus accounting for 65% and 35% respectively," he added.
Another crucial issue in relations between Russia and Belarus is the price of gas. Belarus currently purchases gas at $150 per cubic metre on average, which is the lowest price in Europe and in the CIS. Naturally, Minsk likes the current deal.
"We reviewed our cooperation in the fuel and energy industry and directed our deputy prime ministers to meet as soon as possible to finalise the programme," said Sidorsky adding that these preparations are due to be finished by December.
It could not have been otherwise though. If Belarus had had any convincing arguments to keep its favorable gas payment terms in 2010 and to shift the transition to European market prices from 2011 to 2015, Gazprom chief Alexei Miller would have probably attended the meeting of the Council of Ministers. But he was absent.
Anastasia Savinykh
