Business news

MOSCOW, 15 December (BelTA) - Belarusian and Russian companies have started increasingly using the national currencies in mutual settlements, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after the talks with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow, BelTA has learned.

Vladimir Putin noted that special attention was paid to the development of trade and economic cooperation of Belarus and Russia. "This year, due to the sharp fluctuations on the foreign exchange market, the trade in dollar terms decreased. When calculated in rubles it rose by 20.6% to RUB1.3 trillion. We reached this result including thanks to the fact that Russian and Belarusian companies have started increasingly using the national currencies in mutual settlements. This is approximately true for 86% of the total trade.

The Russian leader noted that the action plan to create additional conditions for the development of trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and Russia adopted by the governments of the two states is aimed at ensuring sustainable growth of trade. “Our priority tasks are to enhance the competitiveness of our enterprises, boost industrial cooperation, conduct coordinated import substitution policy, and stimulate mutual investment,” Vladimir Putin said.