The ratification bill for the Customs Union’s Code was added Thursday to the agenda of the current session of the House of Representatives, the lower parliamentary house in the Belarusian National Assembly.
The legislation was placed on the agenda by the Council of the House of Representatives.
"In accordance with applicable procedures, the ratification bill for the agreement is to be debated before the end of the session,"Syarhey Maskevich, chairman of the House’s standing committee on international relations and affairs within the CIS, commented to BelaPAN.
Unconfirmed reports had it that the lower chamber would discuss the bill on June 10.
The House is scheduled to hold its next plenary meeting on June 14. Its session will wrap up on June 30. In late May, Russia and Kazakhstan agreed to launch the Customs Union on July 1 on a bilateral basis without Belarus after negotiations stalled as Moscow refused to abolish its export duty on crude oil that it sells to Minsk.
Earlier this month, Mr. Lukashenka said at a meeting with Igor Shuvalov, Russia`s deputy prime minister, that Belarus was ready to compromise on Customs Union agreements in response to "respectful treatment" on the part of Kazakhstan and Russia.
Belarusian Economy Minister Mikalay Snapkow said on June 4 that Belarus would join the Union before July 1.
Referring to the meeting between Messrs. Lukashenka and Shuvalov, Mr. Snapkow said that the talks had confirmed the readiness of Minsk and Moscow to settle their disputes and move ahead with the establishment of the Union.
The Customs Union is widely believed to top the agenda of the Belarusian leader’s forthcoming talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Russia`s newspaper Vedomosti said on Wednesday with reference to a Kremlin source that the meeting was likely to take place in Moscow on June 11.
