MOSCOW, February 24. /TASS/. The Russian and Belarusian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, agreed at talks to step up work between the two countries’ economic agencies and tax services, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
The two leaders held a meeting in Sochi on February 22 and had a phone conversation on February 23. "The meeting was very fruitful, timely, constructive and candid. Certainly, they mostly discussed expanding and improving cooperation between the economic agencies," Peskov said, noting that there was some decline in the trade turnover and in economic terms amid the pandemic.
The presidents came to a conclusion that now it is necessary to take very energetic steps to compensate for this decline and "bring all key indicators to the growth trajectory." "So the two presidents discussed that there is the need to step up efforts in the framework of economic agencies and especially focus on cooperation in the tax area," he said.
To this aim, consultations will be held between the two countries’ tax services and the heads of government. "And then bilateral measures will be specified on deepening cooperation in these areas," he noted.
When asked to comment whether the two leaders had discussed the issue of selling Belarusian assets to Russian companies, Peskov noted that "joint investment cooperation is included in the agenda all the time."
"This is part and parcel of our Union State and the entire trade and economic relations. In particular, there cannot be any lists, because all this is the issue of economic feasibility and a beneficial economic offer," he stressed.
Putin and Lukashenko also discussed coordinating efforts between the law enforcement agencies, including the Defense Ministry. "These agencies will also hold consultations rather soon and the defense ministers will contact," he noted. The Russian president is very positive about the outcome of the meeting, Peskov said.