By Daria Belousova-Petrovskaya: The Prime Ministers of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have met for the fourth time at today’s Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting in Sochi to discuss tens of issues, one of the most important being the draft treaty on the EAEU Customs Code, which has been jointly prepared by the public authorities and businesses of the five Eurasian Union countries. Due to this document, entrepreneurs will get a single set of rules. A number of innovations to significantly save business resources will be introduced in the Code. Customs formalities will be simplified, time for completing customs procedures will be reduced, and communication with government officials will be reduced to a minimum, which will improve business climate in the EAEU countries.
The Prime Ministers have discussed the formation of common markets, in particular, common medicine and oil and gas markets, and an agreement on a common capital market. The document was adopted a few days ago at a Eurasian Economic Commission meeting in Moscow. The document will allow lifting foreign exchange restrictions on a number of banking transactions. This applies to opening bank accounts, raising and disbursing loans, paying for goods and services, purchasing real estate and more. The agreement will come into force in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia in late 2017 - early 2018 and in Belarus in 2020.
The next Intergovernmental Commission meeting will take place in the autumn in Minsk.
