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26 Jun 2025 Arzybek Kozhoshev, "Today, transport is a basic condition for access to work, education, social life" The impact of transport integration on sustainable development in Eurasia was the main topic of the session "Sustainable Transport in the Eurasian Region: Mobility, Multimodality and Digitalization". The event was held in Minsk as part of the 4th Eurasian Economic Forum. "Transport and infrastructure should be accessible to all segments of the population, including residents of remote areas, with fair fees," said Arzybek Kozhoshev, Minister in charge of Energy and Infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Commission. During the presentations, the development of digital technologies, infrastructure, international transport corridors, container and multimodal transportation was discussed in detail. The discussion also covered the issues of energy efficiency, pollution reduction and transport congestion. The EEC Minister noted that "the EAEU is consistently and dynamically moving toward implementing the sustainable transport principles. The focus is on increasing the efficiency of the Union's transit utilization, developing smart transport systems and modernizing infrastructure." The discussion brought together representatives of government agencies, business community and international organizations. The session speakers were the heads of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia, the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Belarus, the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation and the Executive Committee of the Transportation Advisory Board of the CIS Member States, representatives of Iran. 

26 Jun 2025 Fourth Eurasian Economic Forum Opened in Minsk The 4th Eurasian Economic Forum opened on June 26 in Minsk International Exhibition Center. Its main theme is "Strategy of Eurasian Economic Integration: Results and Prospects". The event is timed to coincide with the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council featuring the Heads of the EAEU states. Alexander Turchin, Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus and Chairman of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, and Bakytzhan Sagintaev, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, took part in the opening ceremony. The Head of Government of Belarus and the Chairman of the EEC Board addressed the Forum participants with welcoming remarks, wishing them fruitful work.      "Every year the Forum becomes a significant international platform for an open dialogue between the business community and authorities of the Eurasian Economic Union," Bakytzhan Sagintaev emphasized. The EEF 2025 business program includes a plenary session featuring the leaders of the EAEU states and heads of international delegations, as well as more than thirty thematic events.

26 Jun 2025 Maxim Ermolovich, "Creation of a common market of medicines in the EAEU requires levelling competition through harmonization of price regulation" For the first time, the Eurasian Economic Commission has conducted a comprehensive study of the pharmaceutical sector development in the Eurasian Economic Union from a competitive perspective. Maxim Ermolovich, Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation of the EEC, spoke about the findings on June 26 at the EEF 2025 session "Pharmaceutical Market Development: Access and Affordability". "The pharmaceutical sector is one of the most regulated economic sectors supranationally and nationally in the EAEU, which necessitates close antitrust control in the cross-border and national markets," said the EEC Minister.  Among the regulatory problems identified in the course of the study are differences in enforcing common EAEU regulations at the national level and uneven registration of pharmaceuticals in the Union countries under common rules, a high and non-transparent "threshold of entry" to the market, specifics of determining the interchangeability of pharmaceuticals for the purposes of public procurement. All that can create barriers for businesses and consumers. Special attention is paid to price regulation. According to Maxim Ermolovich, "today it is the national competence of the EAEU countries. However, in the context of establishing a common market of medicines in the Union, attention should be paid to differences in regulation and, as a consequence, emerging medicine price disparities. It's a challenge to competition." The study has shown that in the Union countries the largest disparities are in prices for medicines for cardiovascular diseases (up to 508%), blood and hematopoietic medications (up to 497%) and antibiotics (up to 275%). This is a consequence of differences in the subjects of state price regulation, methods for calculating price ceilings and lists of reference countries. Sometimes unfair market strategies of business entities may also take place. In this regard, it is proposed to address the possibility of creating within the EAEU a model list of medicines for the purposes of price regulation and a model methodology for calculating manufacturer ceiling prices to ensure equal guaranteed affordability of medicines for the population of the Union countries. It is also planned to start developing a "Code of Good Practices for the Pharmaceutical Sector of the EAEU" as a soft regulation mechanism to prevent anti-competitive behavior of market participants. The session participants discussed the prospects for developing the EAEU common market of medicines, the role of antitrust authorities in this regard, as well as measures for promoting the production of pharmaceuticals. The discussion was attended by Timofey Nizhegorodtsev, Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, Alexander Starovoytov, Deputy Minister of Health of Belarus, Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, Kaarmanbek Baidavletov, Deputy Minister of Health of Kyrgyzstan, Adlet Tabarov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Salidat Kairbekova National Research Center for Health Development of the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan, heads of specialized associations and pharmaceutical companies, representatives of expert and academic communities. The session was attended by representatives of businesses and government authorities from China, Cuba and Myanmar. In 2024, the pharmaceutical sector within the EAEU amounted to $30.9 billion, of which 66% is accounted for by the pharmacy (retail) segment and 34% by public procurement. Meanwhile, the pharmacy segment accounts for 3% of total retail sales of goods in the Union. Public procurement of medicines accounts for 7% of the total public procurement in the EAEU. In the EAEU countries, the pharmaceutical production in manufacturer prices in 2024 amounted to RUB 948 bn or USD 10.2 bn. The production growth rate in Russian rubles is +18%. 

26 Jun 2025 Bakytzhan Sagintaev: "Our task is to make all processes in the EAEU faster, more convenient and safer" On June 26, a plenary session of the Eurasian Economic Forum "Strategy of Eurasian Economic Integration: Results and Prospects" took place in Minsk. The keynote speakers of the event were the Heads of State of the Eurasian Economic Union: Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia; Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus; Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Sadyr Japarov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic; Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation; as well as Bakytzhan Sagintaev, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission. The Forum was attended by the guests of honor: Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez, President of the Republic of Cuba; Min Aung Hlaing, Prime Minister of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; Laureano Ortega Murillo, Special Representative of the Co-Presidents of the Republic of Nicaragua for Cooperation with the Republic of Belarus. During the Forum, Bakytzhan Sagintaev, Chairman of the EEC Board, presented the results of the Union's functioning and prospects for further integration development. "Since its founding, the Eurasian Economic Union has demonstrated sustainable development dynamics," Bakytzhan Sagintaev emphasized. "Over the ten years, the aggregate GDP of the EAEU countries has grown by almost 18%: from $1.6 trillion in 2014 to $2.6 trillion in 2024. The Union's share in the global economy increased to 4.2%. Mutual trade turnover has doubled and reached about $100 billion as of year-end 2024. Moreover, 93% of settlements are made in national currencies. Exports of services between the EAEU countries have increased by 86%. The unemployment rate has fallen to 3%." Among the important results of the integration association's activity, the head of the EEC Board named a high degree of liberalization in the labor market, the operation of a common market of services in 142 economic sectors, the elimination of more than 100 obstacles to trade, the adoption of 52 technical regulations, and a food security level of 92%. A mechanism of financial support for industrial cooperation projects has been launched to develop the real sectors of the economy. Given the high pace of digital transformation in all areas of economy, there is an ongoing work to create a common digital space. "This will serve to simplify the interaction between public authorities, businesses and citizens. Our task is to make all processes faster, more convenient and safer. Digitalization of customs procedures, for example, has reduced the time required to release goods six times," noted Bakytzhan Sagintaev. Over the decade, the Eurasian Economic Union's position in the international arena has been significantly reinforced. This is evidenced by the growth of foreign trade turnover by almost 40%. "We are going to continue cooperation in such areas as providing the Union's common market with key goods and resources; promoting the development of transport and logistics potential and cooperation. We will take into account the experience of integration cooperation, national interests and the fundamentals of the Treaty on the EAEU," summed up the Chairman of the EEC Board.

26 Jun 2025 Valentin Tataritsky: "The Commission is ready to comprehensively develop the technical regulation system for the benefit of the EAEU countries" On June 26 in Minsk as part of the business program of the 4th Eurasian Economic Forum, Valentin Tataritsky, Minister in charge of Technical Regulation of the Eurasian Economic Commission, held a panel session "Eurasian Integration in the Field of Technical Regulation: from Strategy 2025 to Declaration 2030". The results and prospects of the Strategy 2025 implementation in the field of technical regulation became the main topic of the event. A number of Union decisions were discussed, both already adopted and those in progress, ensuring systematic integration in this area, including in the context of shaping the action plan for the Declaration 2030. "The series of our discussions, among other things, covers the issues of digitalization, e-commerce, combating "gray" authorizations and increasing trade and economic expansion of external markets," the EEC Minister stated. The discussion agenda touched upon increasing the role of standardization for the purposes of technical regulation within the Eurasian Economic Union and the development of a mechanism for assessing the scientific and technical level of safety requirements for products, taking into account innovations in the legal framework of the EAEU. These include the Procedure for Coordination of Work in the Field of Standardization, the Procedure for Conducting Mandatory Periodic Assessment of the Scientific and Technical Level of the EAEU Technical Regulations and Lists of Standards to Them and the corresponding plan for such STL assessments until 2030. The session participants discussed systemic problems in protecting the EAEU market from unsafe products. Their settlement, according to the meeting participants, can be achieved, among other things, through harmonizing national accreditation procedures of conformity assessment bodies. The procedure for mutual comparative assessments by accreditation bodies will ensure that relevant differences in conducting such procedures are identified for their subsequent elimination. Additional discarding of "gray business" issuing authorizations in the field of technical regulation will be ensured by a relevant register of test protocols. The procedure for its establishment and maintenance is already in development. The EEC Minister also expressed particular concern about varying supervisory practices in the Union countries in terms of controlling compliance with the EAEU technical regulations. In particular, in order to develop a mechanism for quick and synchronized response of countries to non-compliant products, the work on a unified Procedure for interaction of state supervision bodies with customs authorities and accreditation bodies, as well as on the Procedure for consideration and settlement of disputes arising between the Member States on the results of state supervision has been significantly intensified at the Union. Prospects for improvement of control and supervisory activities by the EAEU countries are also seen through the integration of resources relevant to technical regulators (in particular, the register of conformity assessment documents) with the resources of digital labelling, which is used for the purposes of traceability of goods and anti-counterfeiting. The acceptability of the approach to such integration is being actively debated. The session paid special attention to the implementation of the project "Digital Technical Regulation within the Eurasian Economic Union". When considering the topic of electronic commerce, the event participants emphasized the inadmissibility of unsafe products entering the EAEU market through e-platforms. The discussion platform brought together representatives of government agencies, business community, and international organizations. The speakers were the heads of the State Committee for Standardization of the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Institute of Standardization, the Kyrgyz accreditation authority, the Union of Non-Profit Organizations "Confederation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Employers)" of the Republic of Belarus, the Technical Regulation Committee of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and others.  

26 Jun 2025 Andrey Slepnev: "Today the geography of the Eurasian Agroexpress project is significantly expanding" This was stated by Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission, addressing the participants of the session "Eurasian Agroexpress — New Horizons and Possibilities" in the framework of the 4th Eurasian Economic Forum in Minsk. "The Eurasian Economic Union and its Member States position themselves as an important element of global agricultural production and are ready to make their substantial contribution to international food security. This is what we see as the mission of our industry, and it is necessary to ensure quality logistics for that," the EEC Minister emphasized. According to Andrey Slepnev, high-quality, inexpensive and fast logistics enables entire regions to unlock their agricultural potential. Notably, during its functioning the Eurasian Agroexpress has managed to ensure a stable delivery schedule, primarily in the direction of China. "I would point out that while the project started as focused on Southeast Asia and the Chinese market, today its geography is expanding significantly. It is good that practical work has begun on the North-South corridor — a promising direction for agrifood products," told Andrey Slepnev. He drew attention to the fact that in this case it is Iran as well as other countries in the region. For example, it would be interesting to include the United Arab Emirates in the Eurasian Agroexpress project. An economic partnership agreement with this country is scheduled to be signed tomorrow, with an important component of trade in agricultural produce. In addition, work is underway with Mongolia, the EAEU's closest partner and simultaneously a transit country in the direction of China. The agreement, which will also be signed tomorrow with Mongolia, offers significant prospects for growth of supplies. Moreover, in this case it is possible to talk not only about the supplies of agricultural produce from the EAEU, but also about the imports of Mongolian meat and dairy products, in which our countries are interested. Eurasian Agroexpress is an integration project aimed at ensuring accelerated rail and multimodal transportation of agricultural and food cargoes both within the Union and to third countries. Over the three years of project implementation, more than 1.5 million tons of cargoes have been transported, of which more than half refrigerated. As of year-end 2024, the volume of transported cargoes increased by 23% compared to the starting year 2022. 

26 Jun 2025 Council of Heads of Accreditation Bodies of the EAEU countries discussed prospects for protecting domestic market from unsafe goods Problematic issues of activities of accreditation bodies on preventing and avoiding unjustified issuance of conformity assessment documents were discussed at the meeting of the Council of Heads of Accreditation Bodies of the Eurasian Economic Union with the participation of Valentin Tataritsky, Minister in charge of Technical Regulation of the Eurasian Economic Commission, on June 26 in Minsk on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Forum. Particular attention was paid to tightening the regulation of activities of accredited laboratories that issue vehicle construction safety certificates within the framework of the Union's technical regulation "On Safety of Wheeled Vehicles". The Council members reached an agreement to create an interstate working group, with mandatory participation of technical experts, for convergence of positions and development of effective mechanisms for identification of unfair activities in this area. Also discussed was the need to establish common criteria that would ensure equal conditions for accredited entities of the Eurasian Five countries. On August 15, 2025 in Minsk, within the framework of the international forum "New Horizons of Accreditation in the Context of Modern Challenges," it is planned to hold a discussion on this topic at the round tables "Digital Transformation of Accreditation: from Risks to Possibilities" and "Training of Accreditation Experts: Current Approaches in the Context of Modern Challenges." The forum will be organized by the Belarusian State Center for Accreditation. In the course of the Council meeting the further steps for interaction between accreditation bodies of the EAEU states on preventing and avoiding unjustified issuance of documents on conformity assessment were outlined. "In order to combat the "gray market" of protocols and certificates, the Commission is working on the creation of a unified register of test protocols, we are actively discussing an acceptable approach to the integration of our specialized resources with the digital labelling system," said Valentin Tataritsky. "However, we still lack concrete country-specific developments and proposals from accreditation bodies, which could be promptly implemented within the Union." A number of other relevant matters in the field of accreditation were also considered. The Mutual Comparative Assessment Group of the Accreditation Body of Armenia reported on the completion of the first stage — the analysis of the accreditation body's procedures (documentary assessment). Mutual comparative assessments of accreditation bodies are stipulated by the Treaty on the EAEU. By decision of the Council of the Commission, the Procedure for implementing mutual comparative assessments by accreditation bodies of the Member States was approved, defining the rules for performing such assessments by accreditation bodies. Their results will allow determining further steps for harmonizing the legislation of our countries in order to achieve equivalence of the applied procedures. The Council of Heads of Accreditation Bodies of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union was established by a Decision of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in 2018 as an auxiliary authority of the EAEU to develop accreditation in the field of technical regulation within the framework of implementing the Treaty on the Union. In 2025, the Council of the Heads is chaired by the Republic of Belarus represented by the Belarusian State Center for Accreditation. 

26 Jun 2025 Andrey Slepnev participated in EAEU-Mongolia round table and EAEU-UAE business dialogue Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission, spoke at the EAEU-Mongolia round table event held within the framework of the 4th Eurasian Economic Forum in Minsk, where he noted that the deep historical layer of relations between the parties and close ties allow building the future confidently. "In today's conditions, when the world is divided and conflicts arise, strengthening relations with the nearest neighbors certainly matters," Andrey Slepnev stressed. According to the EEC Minister, the negotiations between the EAEU and Mongolia on the interim trade agreement can be called friendly and inspired by partnership, as all the arising difficulties were resolved successfully, taking into account the political will of the leaders and thanks to common trust and mutual understanding. "Over the past five years, our trade turnover has grown by a quarter. However, one of the key challenges is the significant imbalance due to our much larger supplies to the Mongolian market compared to their supplies to us. Therefore, the task of expanding the presence of Mongolian goods in the EAEU is no less a priority for us than the promotion of our goods in Mongolia", noted Andrey Slepnev. According to him, the partner can also make good contributions to strengthening our balance through supplying meat, clothing and many other items. Despite the interim nature of the agreement and its limited commodity coverage, it affects about 90% of EAEU product supplies to Mongolia in such sectors as metallurgy, motor vehicles, chemical industry, tires, woodworking, and agricultural produce. "What do we need to think better about? We have stipulated a number of aspects in the agreement that relate to regulation: customs, e-commerce, technical regulations, sanitary measures, sectoral cooperation," told the EEC Minister in charge of Trade, adding that all these areas are yet to be explored. In addition, Mongolia is an important participant in continental trade. Energy and transportation projects that are now being developed by the EAEU, Mongolia and China together are very important and promising. Andrey Slepnev also took part in the EAEU-UAE Business Dialogue, during which he emphasized that when the United Arab Emirates are called the gateway to the Middle East region, it is not a figure of speech, but a proven fact based on the huge investments made by the country in logistics, ports, infrastructure, trade relations and economic zones. "It is remarkable that we are signing an economic partnership agreement, which in a sense connects us to this wave of growth shown by the UAE and the region as a whole," emphasized the EEC Minister in charge of Trade. Among other things, it is about expanding cooperation in production and developing the North-South corridor, where the UAE is an important hub and the EAEU has concluded free trade agreements or is negotiating with a number of other countries. Andrey Slepnev informed the business dialogue participants that over the last ten years the EAEU trade with the Emirates has already grown more than five times, while the draft agreement covers liberalization of more than 90% of trade turnover. "This is not just a free trade agreement, but specifically an economic partnership. In this respect, it is unique and groundbreaking for us, as we have never had such an extent of agreements with external partners before," reported the EEC Minister in charge of Trade. At the end of his speech, he urged businesses of the parties to strive to tap practically into the possibilities stipulated in the agreement in order to significantly increase the existing volumes of mutual trade. This will also be facilitated by ongoing negotiations of the EAEU states with the UAE on the service sector and investments. As previously reported, on June 27, on the sidelines of the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council signing of an interim trade agreement is expected between the EAEU and Mongolia and an agreement on economic partnership between the EAEU and the UAE.

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