Experts from the Eurasian Economic Commission discussed the prospects for business development in the context of the Single Economic Space in Vitebsk
On November 13–14, an international conference under the auspices of the Eurasian Economic Commission was held in the regional center. The Eurasian Economic Union will start operating on January 1, 2015, so the work on forming a single market in the territory of its member states – Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan – has entered its final stage. In the regional center, experts from the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) together with heads of national antimonopoly bodies, representatives of the real economy sector, and the scientific community analyzed the results and prospects of forming a common competition policy in the Eurasian Economic Space (EES).
Uniform principles and rules of competition are very beneficial for business, so the current integration processes open up a huge sales market for Belarusian enterprises. At the same time, the formation of a cross-border market has necessitated the creation of clear rules of the game for economic entities. And ordinary citizens are primarily concerned about prices. How barriers to business will be eliminated and whether pleasant news about prices for goods and services in the context of the EES can be expected, "Vitebskiye Vesti" tried to find out.
Moving Towards Each Other – Great Prospects
According to Nurlan Aldabergenov, Member of the Board (Minister) for Competition and Antimonopoly Regulation of the EEC, a unified competition policy involves establishing uniform principles and rules of competition that ensure the identification and suppression of anticompetitive actions in the territory of the EES member states, and actions that negatively affect competition in cross-border markets.
To this end, the heads of the three countries developed and signed a model law
"On Competition", work is currently underway to harmonize national antitrust legislation with its provisions. In particular, it is proposed to introduce unified legislative regulation for electronic trading, which will guarantee equal conditions for participation for all entities in Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan. The national legislation requires the introduction of a norm providing for control over the creation of state enterprises, in particular, holdings, to prevent possible negative impacts on competition."
Such consolidated structures can suppress small businesses and start-up private enterprises, therefore, when creating state holdings, it is proposed to introduce a procedure for preliminary approval with the antitrust authority", – noted Nurlan Aldabergenov. A very important aspect for ensuring equal competition is the public procurement procedure. And in the practice of the EAEEC's work, there are already examples of effective control over these processes in the EAEU. In particular, thanks to the EAEU's intervention, the Belarusian OJSC"Kamvol" gained access to placing orders for federal bodies of Russia. But now it is important for EAEEC members to have information from business structures about existing barriers for prompt decision-making within the EAEU.Roaming to be Zeroed Out
Nurlan Aldabergenov separately focused on the situation with the commodity markets of the three countries. And here, pleasant news may await businessmen and travelers first and foremost. The fact is that today EAEEC experts are completing a study of tariffs for mobile communication services, in particular, roaming.
"When crossing borders, tariffs increase significantly, so our citizens are forced to make efforts to minimize telephone expenses", – explained the minister. Already next year, the EEC will begin negotiations with telecommunications operators on tariff policy issues, the ultimate goal of which is to achieve zero roaming within the EAEU. Similar work will be carried out on tariffs for railway and air passenger transportation, and for a number of other items.Not only to observe, but also to participate
The Vitebsk region was not chosen by chance as the venue for such a large-scale forum (the event gathered more than 100 participants in Vitebsk, including from Armenia and Kyrgyzstan) (the previous similar conference was held in Almaty, and the next one will be in Astana).
"We specifically came to the border region in order to hear the opinion of business representatives on the real situation in the cross-border market in order to take measures to eliminate possible barriers", – emphasized Nurlan Aldabbergenov.As noted by the First Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee Gennady Grebnev, thanks to its geographical location, the Vitebsk region is an important transit corridor. That is why representatives of the real sector of the region's economy are extremely interested in forming stable rules for the unimpeded movement of goods in foreign markets. In his opinion, the existence of a clear mechanism for public procurement, the removal of bureaucratic barriers in mutual trade in goods and services, and in general, ensuring fair competition and harmonization of national legislation will contribute to strengthening the economic potential of all regions of the EAEU member states.
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Today we have the opportunity not only to observe but also to become direct participants in powerful integration processes that contribute to the development of regional economies and strengthen competition in external and internal markets", – emphasized Gennady Grebnev. This will contribute to the development of effective interregional cooperation, which is particularly relevant for the Vitebsk region with its annual foreign trade turnover of about 12 billion dollars, provided by about 1.5 thousand enterprises (which employ over 200 thousand workers).Sergey Antonov, "Vitebskiye Vesti"