He remarked this would be the first foreign trip of the newly appointed Russian prime minister.
According to the diplomat, the session will consider a series of basic problems in the formation of the union state.
In particular, the diplomat said at issue would be the VAT tax. At present, VAT is charged on the producing country, and is going to be charged on the destination country as well from January 1, 2005.
The ambassador also said that the second bloc of issues on the agenda was the pricing policy on energy products and the lifting of customs barriers between the two countries, said Grigoryev.
In particular, he said both gas prices and the cost of Russian gas transit via Belarus would come under discussion. "We should prevent the situation that happened last winter when Gazprom cut off gas from Belarus," said Grigoryev.
Minsk and Moscow have achieved a compromise on the independent audit of the Belarussian counter-agent to Gazprom, Beltransgaz. Minsk has estimated the company at $5 billion, and Gazprom's estimates suggest a tenfold lower figure. This is important because Gazprom intends to become a 100% owner of the main Belarussian transporter of Russian gas to Europe.
