Russian senate speaker: Economic problems impede integration of CIS countries

Old inveterate problems are still an obstacle to an efficient integration of the CIS countries, Russian Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov told the seventh St. Petersburg international economic forum. In his estimate, these problems are due, first of all, to difficulties in the socio-economic development of the CIS countries.

In Russia, just like in other Commonwealth countries, the renovation of obsolete fixed assets is going extremely slowly, while investments in fixed assets are absolutely inadequate for ensuring sustainable long-term economic growth, noted the speaker.

Due to the growing prices for domestic commodities, whose quality is relatively low, the growth of imports in CIS countries still exceeds the growth of exports. "Raw materials and energy resources, whose prices are falling this year, still dominate their exports," noted Sergei Mironov.

Apart from that, he said, "food and other goods that Commonwealth countries can well produce themselves, and not new technologies and unique equipment that account for a big share of imports.

This is why a change in the quality of the economic growth of the CIS countries on the basis of an accelerated development of science, education, healthcare, high-tech sectors of production should become one of the main directions of discussion at the St. Petersburg international economic forum, stressed Mironov.