Opinions & Interviews

“There is interaction; Belarus has full support of the UK for our WTO accession process. This has been declared at the political level,” the diplomat said.

Ambassador Sergei Aleinik stressed that there are no serious problems in Belarus-UK relations. “Our goal is to keep developing our relations, increasing our bilateral trade and contacts of political cooperation relying on the good basis of trade, economic, and investment cooperation with the UK,” the ambassador added.

In his words, the UK has traditionally been among Belarus’ major trading partners over the past years. “There are positive dynamics in 2017, too. Our trade exceeded $1.5 billion in January-July 2017. There are good prospects for increasing this number both in terms of goods and services,” Sergei Aleinik remarked.

The UK is the second largest investor in Belarus, trailing only Russia. In 2016, UK's investment in Belarus totaled nearly $1.5 billion, FDI accounting for $1.4 billion of them. In 2015, the UK’s investment in Belarus made up some $2.3 billion.

The sides have also been expanding cooperation between regions and expanding collaboration in education, science, and culture.

Ambassador Sergei Aleinik noted that the UK has lately been aspiring to establish more robust relations with countries across the globe. In this context, there are chances to intensify relevant processes in bilateral relations with Belarus.