This conclusion was reached at the second meeting of the Presidium of the EAEU Business Council, which was held in Astana

In the first place, the leaders of five major business communities of the member states of the Union expressed the need to establish new ties in the Eurasian space, calling colleagues for constructive cooperation.

Chairman of NCE RK "Atameken" Ablay Myrzakhmetov noted that the pace of integration and its advancement goes to a new level today, as the newly elected President of the EAEU Business Council, Viktor Khristenko said that the business needs to go beyond their national territories. "Civilized dialogue of business circles of EAEU and the willingness of all market participants to negotiate is a direct source of additional development and support of the economies of Member States", - expressed his opinion Viktor Khristenko.

President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin suggested to create a single information technology platform and database of companies that have an interest to work in the EAEU and are looking for partners in the Eurasian space.

This opinion is shared by their colleagues from Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Armenia. Meanwhile, according to Nikolai Borovoy, Deputy Chairman of the Confederation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Employers) of Belarus, the conditions created in the Union should encourage the growth of mutual trade, the development of new segments of the domestic market and promotion on foreign markets.

Vice-president of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Employers) of Armenia Nectar Manukova considers, in turn, that it is necessary to facilitate the work of businesses, to reduce bureaucracy.

Member of the Board (Minister) for Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission Veronica Nikishina believes that in the determination of the main directions of cooperation in the framework of integration within the Union, business community should be involved in the formation of the key tenets of the partnership with third countries, based on the national interests.

According to participants, the existing barriers to economic relations between the entrepreneurs of the Union are in part a consequence of the law enforcement practice of the legal framework within EAEU.

Dana Zhunusova, Deputy Chairman of NCE RK "Atameken" talked about the problems and opportunities of the Union for business. According to her, early resolution of the issue of regulation of alcohol market is of special importance today for domestic business, access to public procurement markets of the Union, as well as restricted transit through the territory of the Union.

In this connection, the participants of the meeting of the Presidium of the Business Council signed a letter to EEC members of the Council, which asked to develop a mechanism of interaction between the Union Member States, according to which if they apply special economic measures in unilateral order, they must necessarily include rules that exclude negative consequences for the economies of EAEU member states.

Dana Zhunusova separately highlighted enforcement procedures for Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) in order to identify documents of the Commission, which could have a negative impact on the business environment. As practice shows, the level of the procedure has a rather low efficiency.

The situation is compounded by the fact that the regulatory impact assessment procedure is not subject to all the acts that directly or indirectly affect the business. This customs and tariff regulation, the protection of the internal market, antitrust, public procurement, industrial and agricultural subsidies, etc. Documents of strategic importance, defining the main directions of cooperation in specific sectors, do not pass RIA.

NCE RK “Atameken” has always stressed that the main contractor and end users of created conditions in the Union is business. According to Dana Zhunusova, the legal framework is designed to ensure improvement of the business climate and participation of business in decision-making in EAEU will be the marker of the potential benefit.

According to Alexander Shokhin, this issue is very important for business, and it is necessary to consider the documents of the Union in the second reading, affecting the business environment.

Following the discussion, the Presidium of the Business Council instructed the Parties and the experts of the Business Council to revise the list of questions and the algorithm of their adoption, subject to RIA, and in case of interest, contact the EEC in order to address this issue.

Director of the Department of Customs Administration of NCE RK "Atameken" Dina Mamasheva spoke about the development of specific mechanisms to support business activities, which are not included in the draft Code, or insufficient for the implementation of these important projects, urging members of the Business Council to defend these proposals at the site of the Eurasian Commission jointly.

According to the leaders of the business community of the Union, in Astana was held a constructive and substantive conversation. The decisions and orders, voiced at the meeting reflect a consolidated commitment of the Business Council for the most active dialogue.