MINSK, 20 June (BelTA) - There will be more Union State programs to advance the integration of Belarus and Russia, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said as he met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Minsk on 20 June, BelTA has learned.
"We have a very rich bilateral agenda. We need to address pressing issues of supporting the economy in the face of unprecedented sanctions. In fact, this is an economic war against Belarus and Russia. In less than four months, the governments of our countries have done a lot, at the national level, to minimize the impact of sanctions, to coordinate import-substituting efforts, adapt economies to the changed external conditions, to saturate the consumer market, and map out new logistics and comprehensive measures to support all industries. No doubt, 28 Union State programs are of great help. I think there will be more of them in the very near future, we are working on this," Roman Golovchenko said.
According to him, regular contacts are maintained by the deputy prime ministers of the two countries. There is also a high-level group at the Council of Ministers of the Union State. "Their task is to remove the emerging issues in bilateral trade as quickly as possible. Coordination and mutual support to overcome the crisis are coming to the fore," the prime minister said.
"Currently, the government bodies of Belarus and Russia have prepared a number of proposals for consideration of the heads of government. In certain areas of cooperation, work is proceeding more slowly than we would like. I think that today we will discuss a number of these issues and make appropriate decisions. I am sure we will find a consensus. Given the current situation we need to act swiftly and decisively," the Belarusian head of government stressed.
In 2021 the trade between Belarus and Russia amounted to $40.1 billion, up by 35% over 2020. Belarus' exports to Russia totaled $16.4 billion, up by 24.6%.
As of 1 January 2022, there were 113 entities of the commodity distribution network of Belarusian enterprises in Russia.
