Andrey Slepnev: we need to promote EAEU and EU cooperation
“We need to facilitate our discussion with EU on customs and technical issues as well as ecological problems, including carbon dioxide challenge”, – EAC trade minister Andrey Slepnev said.Mr Slepnev took the floor on the conference “EAEU: contribution, achievements, prospects of development”, held by the Russian-German foreign Trade Chamber of International Commerce. The event involved companies operating in the EAEU as well as experts in the filed of renewable energy, green investment, finance and logistics.Andrey Slepnev gave credit to years of close cooperation with European and German businesses. Nonetheless, he pointed out an alarming trend: the current crisis made a huge dent in EAEU and EU trade. The decrease accounts for 27.6% in January-July 2020. To compare, trade between EAEU members plummeted by 13.8% (with constant supply volumes) while trade between EAEU and China dropped by 6.3%.
“In this times of great uncertainty EAEU as a purely economic organization has demonstrated its commitment to strengthening economic ties with two economic giants”, EAC trade minister claimed.
Andrey Slepnev expressed his hope that German businesses would, as usual, welcome and encourage EAC initiatives.
“The issue of prime importance for us is commitment to transparency and opening new possibilities for businesses both inside and outside EAEU. Currently, with many countries being under lockdown, trying to prevent risks linked to international production, transparency is a paramount choice. It’s the choice that would secure constant growth”, Mr Slepnev said.
