Moscow hosted a Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) session, which was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk.
One of the highlights of the meeting was the signing of an agreement on mutual recognition of bank guarantees on public (municipal) procurement. Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk signed the agreement on behalf of the Russian Federation. The agreement expands access to public (municipal) procurement for the member countries by allowing suppliers to use guarantees from their national banks. These banks will need to meet criteria as determined by EEC Council resolution.
The participants discussed the parameters of the procedure for selecting cooperation projects in industrial sectors and rendering financial aid for their implementation by the EAEU members. They more closely aligned their approaches to the criteria for choosing projects that will receive possible support from the EAEU budget and the banks that are involved in implementing the projects.
The participants also reviewed a package of issues related to the introduction of navigation seals during the movement of goods on the territory of the union. They endorsed the content of the information that a navigation seal must contain during the monitoring of a specific shipment and uniform measures for protecting the information in a navigation seal.
They also approved a plan of measures on implementing a joint project on specialised means for the cryptographic protection of EAEU information. The plan provides for the development of a Eurasian cryptographic protection process to simplify the exchange of protected information.
The EEC Council endorsed a recommendation on creating additional means to encourage the promotion of existing and newly created brands of jewellery made by EAEU producers (including an EAEU umbrella jewellery brand).
The participants harmonised joint forecasts for the development of the agro-industrial sector, supply and demand balances in the EAEU states on agricultural products, food, flax fibre, hides and skins, cotton fibre and wool for 2023-2024. They approved joint supply and demand balance indicator for 2024 on specific agricultural products (wheat and meslin, barley, maize, sunflower seeds, sugar and sunflower oil).
At Russia’s initiative, the EEC Council approved a goal to increase comprehensive trade and economic cooperation between the EAEU and its member countries on the one hand, and Africa’s integration associations and individual states, on the other. Alexei Overchuk described the interest in cooperation expressed by the African leaders at the Second Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg on 27-28 July.
The participants held a constructive exchange of views on a draft declaration on the main goals and key areas of further EAEU integration up to 2030 and 2045. In his address to the EAEU’s heads of state in connection with Russia’s chairmanship in the union’s bodies, President of Russia Vladimir Putin initiated the preparations for drafting this document. It will be further discussed at the level of the EEC Council and the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council with a view to adoption by the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council session in December 2023.
