OREANDA-NEWS. January 24, 2011. Russia is a strategic partner for Belarus, Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich said as he met with the Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

“For our Government the Russian Federation is a strategic partner, and there is no doubt about that,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said.

Prime Minister of Belarus stated he considers the existing forms of cooperation between the Belarusian and Russian economic agents as outdated.

“We need to start setting up large joint companies, scientific production associations, maybe with the participation of third countries,” Mikhail Myasnikovich stated.

Mikhail Myasnikovich proposed to hold a regular session of the Council of Ministers of the Union State in Minsk in February or March.

Mikhail Myasnikovich said that the two countries have a lot of issues to settle. The settlement would become a breakthrough in the bilateral relations.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he supports the idea to hold the next session of the Council of Ministers of the Union State in Minsk and proposed to agree on the specific date.

The Belarusian Prime Minister thanked the Russian Government for their work regarding the Customs Union. “The fact that all basic documents have been signed has created a sound basis for moving forward in our efforts to create the Single Economic Space,” Mikhail Myasnikovich noted.

Belarus has ratified all the instruments on the Common Economic Space, and expressed hope that Russia and Kazakhstan will complete relevant domestic procedures in the near future.

“It is necessary to create the whole algorithm so that we could launch the SES on 1 January. The most important thing is to create equal conditions, in other words, a level playing field for economic entities,” underlined the Prime Minister of Belarus.

In turn, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expressed his gratitude to the President and the Government of Belarus for the active work on the Customs Union and Single Economic Space.

According to the results of the talks Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich held a joint press conference.

Russia, if necessary, is ready to provide state support to Belarus in matters of gas deliveries, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.

“We agreed that, if need be, the Russian side will provide Belarus state support in matters of gas deliveries so that these deliveries are not burdensome for Belarus,” Vladimir Putin said.

However, he reiterated the position of the Russian side that this year’s gas supplies to Belarus will be implemented in accordance with the contract. “At the same time we are ready now to start negotiations on the terms of Russian gas deliveries to Belarus in 2012,” the Prime Minister of Russia said.

The Prime Minister of Belarus noted that during the negotiations the formula for calculating the gas prices in 2012 was practically defined. “There is a corresponding formula, there is a timetable for us switching to equal-income prices,” he said.

Mikhail Myasnikovich also expressed hope that the position of the Russian side will allow to ensure the competitiveness of the Belarusian economy.

Oil supplies were one of the issues on the agenda of the talks. The heads of government made a number of instructions to vice-premiers and ministers so that all issues related to fuel and energy complex should be resolved in the next few days, the Belarusian Prime Minister told reporters.

In turn, Vladimir Putin said that Russia’s Government has committed itself to abolish duties on the oil supplied to Belarus after the Belarusian side ratified the basic documents on the Single Economic Space. The parties fulfilled their obligations,” said Vladimir Putin. Yet, the issue of pricing is still on the agenda.

At the same time Vladimir Putin assured that Russia will try to make sure that the benefits for Belarus in the oil sector were no less than those that existed before the oil taxes were imposed in 2007.

Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich also told reporters that the basic agreement with Russia on the construction of the nuclear power plant (NPP) will be signed during in the first quarter of this year.

According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, in the course of the talks the parties found approaches to resolving issues related to construction costs and schedule. In addition, the parties discussed a possibility of involving Belarusian organizations in this project. “We reached a complete understanding with the Russian side on this matter,” said the prime minister.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has stressed the importance of the nuclear power plant construction for the Belarusian economy and reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to implement this project and to provide financial support. According to him, the main issue, which discussion is still in progress, is the cost of the future nuclear power plant.

Vladimir Putin also confirmed that about 40% of the project to build the nuclear power plant can be performed by the Belarusian side.

During a working visit to Russia on January 20, Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich also met with representatives of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) to discuss the launch of a Belarusian spacecraft.

“The project is in its closing stage. We would like to listen to the final reports and make relevant decisions,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said at the meeting with Roscosmos officials.

Head of Roscosmos Anatoly Perminov believes that the Belarusian satellite launch project will strengthen Belarus-Russia cooperation in the space industry.