MINSK, 21 August (BelTA) – In case of the country's withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) direct losses for Belarus will amount to about $300-350 million annually for the Belarusian defense industry, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said in an interview with the ONT TV channel when asked about the consequences of the country's withdrawal from the CSTO and the closure of Russian military facilities: a communications hub in Vileika and a station near Baranovichi, BelTA has learned.
“This is clearly aimed at breaking the military-political partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, because we are in fact in a single defense space both within the framework of the CSTO and within the framework of the Union State. This includes a whole range of issues: from military personnel training to common plans for the use of the group of troops and forces and so on. This is also a military-technical component, i.e. supply, maintenance, modernization of weapons,” the head of state noted.
"Direct losses for our defense industry will be about $300-350 million annually. As part of the CSTO we purchase weapons, military and other special-purpose equipment at domestic prices, not export ones,” said Roman Golovchenko.
He believes that the transition to NATO standards and weapons is a difficult task. “It is declared that everything will be given for free. Something is given for free, indeed, the things that are written off or outdated, something that should be disposed of. Who is going to give their best things away? Then will come a requirement to allocate 2% of GDP on defense,” the prime minister said. He added that Belarus would have to undertake certain obligations to buy expensive weapons. “Many of these tenders have been running for years because countries do not have money to buy them,” Roman Golovchenko said.
The head of government believes that the Russian military facilities in Belarus should be called infrastructure facilities, not military bases. “The majority of employees there are Belarusians. These facilities located in two small towns provide work for 400 Belarusians,” he added.
