Intra-union trade grew by 10%, and this after a serious growth a year earlier. And the EAEU's foreign trade with third countries in terms of trade turnover remained virtually unchanged, with exports adding 1.2% and the trade balance - 17.3%. This was reported by the Minister of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission Andrei Slepnev at the International Forum “2025 - the year of new opportunities”, organized by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

According to Slepnev, such figures show that attempts to isolate, restrict or otherwise destabilize trade in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, although sensitive, but do not achieve their goal. Trade is developing, business is moving forward and finding ways to continue interaction with partners.

Andrei Slepnev also emphasized that the new opportunities that are opening up now are also a response to new challenges. And these challenges, in his opinion, can be summarized into two main points. The first one is specific to Russia and Belarus and consists in the sanctions pressure. The second is related to the fact that the world trade system has already fully entered the stage of global transformation.

“Now we are going through periods of trade wars, and we need to understand our prospects in this context,” pointed out the EEC Minister.

He noted that the interest of international partners to interact with the Union in the trade sphere is very high.

“Today we are engaged in the implementation of an unprecedented free trade agreement with Iran, consultations with India are actively underway, we expect to sign an agreement with the UAE this year,” informed Andrei Slepnev.

Among other directions he singled out the market of South-East Asia as one of the key ones. The situation there is changing very quickly today, which is due, among other things, to the U.S. measures against China. The EAEU Free Trade Agreement with Vietnam is already in force in the region, and negotiations with Indonesia are successfully underway.

“Competition will increasingly increase, so our export efforts must be further intensified to withstand this competition and defend our interests in these markets. This concerns both us as regulators and the business community of our countries,” the minister concluded.