Lukashenko: Belarus is ready to step up cooperation with Russia’s Far East

Belarus stands ready to promote cooperation with the Russian Far East, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Governor of Russia’s Primorye Territory Oleg Kozhemyako, BelTA has learned.

“I appreciate your visits to Belarus and your statements in the media in support of Belarus and Belarusian goods, your interest in purchasing our products. To be honest, your positive assessment of our economy resonates well with your colleagues in the Far East. And we are always ready to develop cooperation with the Far East,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.

At the same time, the head of state noted that the distance between Belarus and  Primorye Territory has some impact on cooperation. It is not even the distance itself, but a high workload on railways in the eastern direction, the president specified.
 
“The center of gravity of the economies of Russia and Belarus has shifted to the East. Your capacities are in demand more than ever. This is good. Yet, the problem is that the railways cannot handle such heavy traffic (Vladimir Vladimirovich spoke about this at our last meeting in Moscow). And here we need to work together to expand these bottlenecks,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “We know well what your region needs. It is good that you will visit the Belagro expo. You will also go to Gomel and see the region’s best enterprises. In other words, we are at your service. If something is needed, we, as always, will get involved and will work it out,” the president said.
 
The head of state emphasized that no topics are off-limits when it comes to Belarus’ cooperation with Primorye Territory. “We are not afraid of anyone. Everything we have is at your service. We have always helped and responded to your requests. And we will keep doing it in the future,” the Belarusian leader assured.
 
Oleg Kozhemyako noted that the region always sends big delegations to Belagro. “And this time we have also brought a fairly big delegation of business people and officials representing mechanical engineering industry, agriculture and woodworking. Agreements and contracts are already being signed. We see that this cooperation is mutually beneficial. Indeed, since 2019 our trade has increased six times and now it stands at 7.6 billion [Russian rubles],” the governor said.