The head of state warmly welcomed the delegation of the Russian region, noting that Igor Artamonov knows Belarus well, and that the parties have already created a good groundwork for further expansion of cooperation. "This is confirmed by the active ties with the Lipetsk region over the past two years and the economic statistics," the president said.
Bilateral trade over the past year totaled $330 million. "The figure is not bad, but half a billion is better. Therefore, our goal is to aim for $500 million in trade, I think we will reach this goal in the near future," the Belarusian leader is convinced. “There are enough reserves. Moreover, we are starting to reap the fruits of the momentous decisions within the framework of our union of Belarus and Russia." In this regard, Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled the many decisions that were made at the level of heads of state.
"Making momentous decisions, we supported our governments and ministers in the development of cooperation, primarily industrial cooperation," the Belarusian leader said.
The president drew attention to how much progress Russia has made in agriculture. This happened not without the help of Belarus. Today the agenda of mutual cooperation includes high-tech industries, primarily microelectronics.
"Western companies are gone (and good riddance). We will develop our own. You know that our former homeland - the Soviet Union – did well without the West. It's just that we were not smart enough and did not save the country. We did well then, we will do well now too," Aleksandr Lukashenko is convinced.
"The key things for our economy are technological sovereignty and industrial cooperation. Today we need to cooperate, which is what we are doing," the president continued.
Belarus' trade with Lipetsk Oblast of Russia has been steadily growing since 2020. In 2021, it amounted to $315 million. In 2022 it reached almost $334 million, with Belarusian exports up from $70 million in 2021 to more than $91 million last year, or by 31%. Belarus' major exports to the Russian region were refrigerators, freezers and refrigeration equipment, mixed mineral fertilizers, washing machines, meat products, rods made of non-alloy steel. Major imports were metallurgical products (various types of rolled steel), rapeseed, and mineral resins.
In January-March of this year, the trade amounted to $68 million, which as 2.5% higher than in the same period of last year. The growth of mutual trade was facilitated by the intensification of contacts with the leadership of Lipetsk Oblast. Since his appointment as governor in June 2022, Igor Artamonov has visited Belarus three times, and his current visit is the fourth in a row.
Written by belta.by
