MINSK, July 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev discussed pressing issues of integration within the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU) in a telephone conversation on Monday, July 14.

“Alexander Lukashenko and Dmitry Medevdev discussed pressing issues of integration within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, including in the context of economic ties with other countries,” the presidential press service said.

They also “touched upon other issues of mutual interest”.

Russian President President Vladimir Putin earlier expressed hope that the agreement on the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union would become effective from January 2015.

The supranational body, the European Economic Commission, will continue to operate from Moscow. The single financial regulator of the Eurasian Economic Union will be set up in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, by 2025.

Common markets of oil, petroleum products and gas of the three countries will also start operating no later than 2025, and a common electricity market slightly earlier.

The common goal of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan is to move on to a higher level of cooperation, which should be facilitated by the new union, Putin said.

The institutional part of the agreement should determine the legal status and organisational framework of the union, and lay down the main principles of its work.

Putin stressed the need to guarantee “four freedoms”: free movement of goods, services, capital and labor among the member states. “It is important to set forth concrete obligations to eliminate exclusions and limitations remaining in the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space,” Putin said.

He believes that the Eurasian Economic Union needs to be granted broad powers in the field of economic regulation. “This will allow [us] to carry out a common and coordinated policy in key industries, raise the sustainability and development potential of the national economies, create a large common market and bring in additional investments,” the head of state said.

Putin noted that integration was already paying off. “Despite the overall economic slowdown in the world, trade turnover between the three countries in 2013 did not decrease but on the contrary grew to $64.1 billion,” he said.

The structure of mutual trade has improved: the share of resources decreased while the share of goods with a high added value increased. Putin recalled that entrepreneurs were actively engaged in this work and co-authored many decisions.