English

Medvedev wants Belarus, Russia to «breathe new life» into five companies

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev suggested on Wednesday that Belarus and Russia "breathe a new life into five companies" through joint efforts.

While speaking to reporters following a meeting of the Belarusian-Russian Union State's Council of Ministers, Mr. Medvedev said that participants "argued for a long time about what is an indicator of quality" in relations between the two countries.

"We must find several good areas of cooperation, in particular we plan to single out five companies into which we should breathe a new life through joint efforts," the Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

Mr. Medvedev reportedly called for removing "bureaucratic obstacles" to economic relations between Belarus and Russia.

He said that the meeting had focused on the operation of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Zone, as well as on the establishment on the Eurasian Economic Union, which is scheduled to be founded by 2015.

Mr. Medvedev said that the situation in world markets had also been discussed. "We should minimize risks and use advantages," he was quoted as saying. //BelaPAN