Radiy Khabirov
MINSK, 9 February (BelTA) – Belarus and Bashkortostan are moving towards deeper cooperation, Head of Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov said during the opening ceremony of the Belarus-Bashkortostan Business Forum, BelTA has learned.
“Belarus is our main partner. We view Belarusians as brothers. And these are not just words - this is exactly how we feel, and, what is very important, we see how you treat us and how you see us. The leaders of our states maintain very friendly, trusting, cordial relations. Our peoples have a long-standing historical, spiritual, and human affinity. We have a similar history, traditions, and way of thinking. Of course, we should cooperate and move forward. Thanks to the support of the Belarusian leadership, over these three or four years we have been building deeper relations. During our first meetings Belarus’ prime minister and I discussed launching a flight. We did it. We understand that flying once a week is not enough. We'll do it twice a week, three times a week. If necessary, we'll subsidize it for some time,” he said.
Radiy Khabirov recalled that Bashkortostan opened its office in Minsk and it is working effectively. “Of course, we also contribute to this work through the regular exchange of visits. The government opens up great opportunities for business. This is very important,” the head of the republic emphasized.
“We promote our relations in a very responsible way. All our agreements are immediately included in the road map, which we study very carefully. It provides for strict and specific deadlines and is overseen very closely by the government of Belarus and by our side. This road map features about 100 points. 40% of them have already been fulfilled, and we will keep working on it,” he stated.
“Much has already been done. We are moving towards deeper cooperation. We are very glad that Belarusian businesses are investing in Bashkortostan; we also want to invest in Belarus and are fully aware of great prospects that open up here. We are expanding our cooperation that is going beyond mechanical engineering to encompass the agrarian-industrial complex. We also see emerging collaborations in the petrochemical sector, which is important for both states,” emphasized Radiy Khabirov.
He noted that Bashkortostan plans to build not only economic relations with Belarus. “We look at this much more broadly. Social, humanitarian, and cultural relations are very important to us,” the head of the republic emphasized.
