Betting on banks: Putin noted the reduction of the EAEU's dependence on Western financial structures

The total GDP of the members of the Eurasian Economic Union increased from $1.6 trillion to $2.6 trillion, and the countries of the union also managed to transfer most of their payments to national currencies and reduce their dependence on Western financial institutions. Vladimir Putin stated this at the Eurasian Economic Forum in Minsk. He also noted the prospects for developing cooperation with Iran, which recently ended the conflict with Israel. It is worth recalling that the free trade agreement between Tehran and the EAEU entered into force in May. About how the Russian leader was received in Minsk and what else was discussed at the Eurasian Economic Forum — in the material of Izvestia.

Putin arrives in Minsk on an official visit

The Russian president's plane landed in friendly Belarus on the evening of June 26. At Minsk National Airport, Vladimir Putin was met by Prime Minister Alexander Turchin, Deputy Foreign Minister Pavel Utyupin, as well as Russian Ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov.

A guard of honor lined up at the ramp, and girls in colorful national costumes presented Vladimir Putin with bread and salt.

From the airport, the presidential motorcade headed to the BELEXPO International Exhibition Center, where the Eurasian Economic Forum was held on June 26. In fact, this is the first event of this level hosted by the Expocentre, which opened in May this year. Flags of the EAEU member states (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia), as well as observer states at the association, including Cuba, were placed along the road.

The Eurasian Economic Forum is taking place on the eve of the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, at which the Russian leader is also scheduled to speak.

At the event on June 26, representatives of the business, expert and scientific communities of the EAEU member states and observer states discussed the possibilities of cooperation. About 30 sessions were held within the framework of the forum. In addition, the EAEU-UAE business dialogue, the EAEU—Mongolia round table, and the dialogue presentation "Cuba: opportunities for the development of economic ties between the EAEU and Latin American and Caribbean countries" were held. More than 2,000 participants from 33 countries attended the forum.

Its main event was a plenary session on the theme "Strategy of the Eurasian Economic Integration: results and prospects".

In a solemn atmosphere at the Eurasian Economic Forum, the President of Belarus personally met the main guests, including Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, Myanmar Prime Minister Min Aung Hlaing, Special envoy of the Presidents of Nicaragua Laureano Ortega, as well as Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Bakytzhan Sagintayev. It is noteworthy that Nicaragua has not yet joined the EAEU as an observer, however, Managua's interest in the association was appreciated by the Belarusian presidency.

Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko met and hugged each other tightly.

The growth of the GDP of the EAEU members

The total GDP of the members of the Eurasian Union has increased from $1.6 trillion to $2.6 trillion, Vladimir Putin noted in his speech. According to the Russian leader, trade turnover with third countries has increased by 38% and now stands at $800 billion.

— This is quite a comparable volume of trade between the world's leading economic powers. This is a solid trade turnover, $800 billion. And the total volume of mutual trade within the association has doubled to $97 billion, with 93% of settlements between our countries being conducted in national currencies," Putin said.

The President also recalled that the free trade agreement with Iran came into force in May. The situation in the Middle East is calming down - we can assume that the conflict between Iran and Israel is in the past, he added.

"This means that it will be possible to develop relations with all countries in the region, including Iran," the Russian leader said.

The escalation has begun to subside and neither side intends to continue the conflict - at least right now, orientalist Ilya Vedeneev noted in a conversation with Izvestia.

In addition, the Russian leader announced the signing of agreements on economic cooperation with the UAE and Mongolia, which is scheduled to take place on June 27. Trade liberalization with Indonesia, Egypt and India is also under discussion. Thanks to these agreements, the EAEU is making a real contribution to the creation of a large space of partnership, cooperation and economic growth on the Eurasian continent.

In his speech, Putin also drew attention to the desire of the EAEU countries to reduce dependence on Western financial institutions and minimize the use of foreign payment instruments and services. The President stressed that the transition to direct correspondent contacts with the banks of the five countries has already been carried out, many of them are connected to the financial message transmission system of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. In this context, the EAEU countries have succeeded in combining national payment systems and bank cards.

In his speech, the Russian leader paid special attention to attempts by the West to steal Russian gold and foreign exchange assets.

— I was just thinking — after all, I have a basic law degree - and I said, "the theft of our gold and foreign exchange reserves." Theft is the secret theft of property. And this is open, this is robbery. And therefore, of course, we aim to further strengthen our own financial settlement instruments in this regard," Vladimir Putin stressed.

By its actions against Russian assets, the West is accelerating the regionalization of payment systems in many ways, which is generally beneficial for the global economy, the head of the Russian Federation is convinced.

The President is absolutely right — a movement towards abandoning the previous principles of the functioning of the global economy is inevitable, Oleg Karpovich, vice-rector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, tells Izvestia. According to him, the West itself destroyed the system on which the ideology of globalization was based.

— The rejection of the rules of free competition, the reliance on the sanctions cudgel, and finally, banal theft — all these elements of American and European politics have cut off the branch on which the elites of the respective countries are sitting. New acts of such economic barbarism will certainly play into our hands and allow us to show the hypocrisy of Western approaches to the world majority. With all the costs, the result is worth it," says Karpovich.

Russia's opponents only bring closer the triumph of true multipolarity, the expert is sure.

How does Lukashenko see the development of the EAEU

Belarus is chairing the association this year. The EAEU, together with its partner countries, represents a fifth of the world's population and the largest association in terms of territory, Alexander Lukashenko said. According to him, a quarter of all explored types of minerals are concentrated in the EAEU zone.

—Our union ranks first in the world in terms of oil production, second in terms of gas production and the production of mineral fertilizers, third in terms of wheat, potatoes, livestock products and the length of railways," he said.

The EAEU is also in fourth place in terms of coal mining, pig iron and steel production, meat, and the total length of highways.

The Belarusian leader believes that the countries of the union should complement their national economies, rather than compete with each other with identical goods and duplicated industries, thus forming a common product supply.

According to Lukashenko, the countries of the economic union need to integrate financial markets, this will become a new catalyst for growth. To do this, the EAEU needs to sign and ratify an agreement on standardized licenses in the banking and insurance sectors and on mutual access of financial market participants as soon as possible, the President of Belarus stressed.

In addition, for a breakthrough, the EAEU countries need to combine their scientific, engineering and financial potentials. In this regard, the creation of joint research and innovation centers that will develop new technologies and products may be a good solution.

He also noted the need to make integrated Eurasian transport and logistics corridors smart, multimodal, environmentally friendly arteries with a single digital administration platform.

Lukashenko's speech did not ignore the absence of the Armenian head of state at the meeting, Nikol Pashinyan delivered a video message. This may indicate that things are not all right in the EAEU, Lukashenko believes.

In many ways, Armenia's absence from the EAEU meeting may be due to the fact that an acute internal political crisis is unfolding in the country due to the confrontation between the authorities and the opposition, which, among other things, includes representatives of the church or figures who support it, INF program manager Milan Lazovich explained to Izvestia.

— The confrontation is still growing. In these circumstances, it is important for Pashinyan to be in the country, inside the events and to control the ongoing processes," he added.

On the other hand, let's not forget Armenia's certain distance from Russia, as well as the personal conflict between Pashinyan and Lukashenko over the position of the Belarusian leader on the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. All these factors combined led to the fact that Pashinyan did not come to Minsk in person, the expert believes. At the same time, there are no risks of the country's withdrawal from the EAEU today.

— Armenia's membership in the Eurasian Union is economically extremely beneficial. Yerevan is not ready to leave the structure and is not yet striving for it, because there is no real better alternative," the analyst says.

He explained that Armenia's prospects in the EU are vague, so it will continue to participate in the EAEU, but probably without the active and constant work of top officials at the union's summits.