Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko hails progress in resolution of pending issues between Belarus, Russia

MINSK, 10 September (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia have made a significant progress in the resolution of pending issues, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Belarus Dmitry Mezentsev on 10 September, BelTA informs.

“All of us – the embassy of Russia and our country – are living in certain conditions. You are well aware of the situation in Belarus. I think that we have made a significant progress in the resolution of pending issues between Belarus and Russian in recent days or, maybe, a couple of weeks. It would be great to keep this dynamic,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

According to the president, very good agreements were reached during the recent talks of the two government delegations in Minsk. “We are working on their development. Of course, in the near future I will meet with the president of Russia, and will finalize the implementation of these relations and agreements in order to move forward. Of course, many pending issues will remain, we will always have them. Many issues emerge in the process of cooperation, and, of course, it is essential to solve them,” the head of state noted.

At the end of September Minsk and the region will host the 7th Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia. According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, this will be an economic springboard for rapprochement in a number of fields. “Representatives of Belarusian and Russian regions will be there. It is more than just a meeting and a display. I think that it will help us make a very strong step in the implementation of certain agreements at the level of enterprises,” he stressed. “Therefore, we are currently satisfied with the development of relations. I think that we need to keep this dynamic.”

The president also thanked the ambassador for his activities in Belarus and the organization of work of Russian mass media in Belarus. “Within a couple of months you have done as much as other ambassadors were doing for years. We hope that the Russian ambassador will continue doing it in the future. We are satisfied with that,” the head of state said.

According to Dmitry Mezentsev, he had had a conversation with Chairperson of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko a few days ago. In his words, she is paying so much attention to regional cooperation between Belarus and Russia. “A big delegation of governors, heads of constituent territories of the Russian Federation is being prepared. Minsk is taking the baton from Saint Petersburg where agreements to the tune of $500 million were signed to benefit people, enterprises, business associations and agrotowns. These are not abstract figures. This is an additional volume in the trade turnover, expansion of Russian markets for Belarusian suppliers in all regions,” the diplomat said.

Using the opportunity, Dmitry Mezentsev wished a happy belated birthday to the head of state and presented a book with topographical maps of Vitebsk, Grodno, Minsk, and Mogilev governorates. This is the first facsimile edition of 1866. “This is another confirmation of the fairness of Belarus' borders and also a response to those who see it in a different way,” he said.

On trade cooperation

In 2019, Belarus-Russia trade made up $35.5 billion. Belarus' export totaled $13.5 billion, import reached $22 billion. In January-July 2019, the trade turnover decreased to $15.8 billion (almost 80% from January-July 2019). Belarus' export fell to $7.15 billion (93.4%), but import was the worst hit – Russia exported $8.65 billion (71.2%) worth of goods to Belarus.

The export of Belarusian services is also decreasing. In 2019, it made up $2.95 billion (95.3% from the level of 2018); in January-June 2020 it shrank to $1.15 billion (83.6% from the same period of 2019).

Belarus' major exports are cheese and quark, butter, freight vehicles, condensed and powdered milk, cream, tractors and tractor units, car and tractor parts, plastic containers, meat, and furniture.

Belarus imports raw oil, including gas liquids, oil gases and other hydrocarbon gases, cars, scrap iron, specific goods, flat-rolled products, car and tractor parts, soya beans, communication devices and parts.

In inter-regional cooperation

Belarus has signed cooperation agreements with 71 Russian regions. There are about 400 agreements on twin-town relations between regions, districts, towns and cities of Belarus and Russian constituent territories and municipal districts. There are 60 inter-regional councils (working groups) for cooperation with Russia, and they are holding meetings every year.

In January-July, the top 10 Russian importers of products from Belarus included Moscow Oblast and the City of Moscow, Smolensk Oblast, Saint Petersburg, Bryansk Oblast, Tatarstan, Kaliningrad Oblast, Leningrad Oblast, Rostov Oblast and Sverdlovsk Oblast. They accounted for 73.4% of Belarus' export to Russia.

The top ten Russian exporters of products to Belarus are Smolensk Oblast, Moscow Oblast, Tyumen Oblast, the City of Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tatarstan, Kaluga Oblast, Samara Oblast, Bashkortostan, Orenburg Oblast. They accounted for 69% of Russia's import.

In 2019, Belarusian delegations paid 108 visits to Russian regions, delegations from Russia visited Belarus 71 times. In January-August 2020, Belarusian delegations paid 16 visits to Russian regions, and seven delegations from Russia visited Belarus due to reduced business activities and coronavirus restrictions. There are 11 session of bilateral working groups with Arkhangelsk Oblast, Belgorod Oblast, Vologda Oblast, Kirov Oblast, Kursk Oblast, Leningrad Oblast, Orenburg Oblast, Tula Oblast, Tyumen Oblast, Ulyanovsk Oblast and Chelyabinsk Oblast.

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