MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. The decline in the GDP of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) by the end of 2022 will be 2-2.5%, Chairman of the EEC Board Mikhail Myasnikovich said in an interview with TASS.
"Forecasts are risky. We at the Eurasian Economic Commission believe that the assumptions of a number of rating agencies and international financial organizations that anticipated a 5%, 7%, or even 10% recession in the Russian Federation, Belarus, and our entire Eurasian Economic Union, did not come true. I believe that if there is a similar decline in GDP compared to 2021, it will be somewhere between 2% and 2.5%," he said.
Myasnikovich highlighted the decisive actions that were taken after the sanctions were imposed.
"When unfriendly Western countries issued sanctions, we took immediate action both at the level of national governments and within the framework of the commission. We established a parallel import system and worked extremely hard with tariff protection, tariff and customs instruments to ‘saturate’ the domestic market as much as possible with both investment and consumer goods," he explained.
Myasnikovich further mentioned that the EAEU reacted to the penalties by shifting to national currency settlements.
He added that sanctions show the weakness of countries that are unable to compete using economic mechanisms and resort to forceful methods. According to him, the EAEU does not follow the path of "thoughtless confrontation" with the countries that impose sanctions against the organization and its member states.
He noted that the EAEU does not plan to separate and isolate itself, and continues the dialogue with interested associations.
He also added that a free trade zone agreement (FTA) between the EAEU and Iran may be signed in the first half of 2023, and preparations for the signing of an FTA agreement with Egypt are also in the final stages. "We would like the agreement to be signed in the first half of 2023 so that we can launch ratification procedures immediately," he said.