Russia has ensured a monopoly on the purchase of Belarusian foodstuffs; an agreement on mutual recognition of visas could be signed at the Supreme State Council meeting

Belarus and Russia have agreed on the centralized purchases of Belarusian foodstuffs, which was the purpose of Rosselkhoznadzor lobbying efforts. The Union State is preparing for the Supreme State Council meeting, during which the agreement on mutual recognition on visas would be presented.

Apparently, the conflict over the terms of Belarusian food supplies to Russia is nearing its end. As predicted, with all its restrictions and obstacles for Belarusian food products on the Russian market, Rosselkhoznadzor pursued the aim to prompt Belarusian suppliers to sell their produces through major Russian brokers and importers, to meet the aspirations of some Russian businesses.

On April 20^th, 2018, Heads of Agriculture and Food Ministries of Belarus and Russia met in Moscow, where Belarus acted as a supplier of products, the range and volume of which were defined by Russia, the latter was also responsible for promoting products on the Russian market through a single supplier. One Russian company is unlikely to become a single supplier, most likely, a state commercial company would be founded, which would include several major Russian importers, Russian state bodies and, perhaps, some representatives of Belarusian state bodies. Negotiations will continue next week in Minsk.

So far, the parties are not ready to agree on the date of the Supreme State Council meeting, e.g. the meeting of the presidents, heads of governments and key state departments. However, according to Belarusian Interior Minister Shunevich, the technical work on the Russo-Belarusian agreement was completed.