MINSK, 12 April (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has arrived in Russia for a working visit. The president's plane landed at the airport of Blagoveshchensk, BelTA has learned.
As Aleksandr Lukashenko came off the plane, he was greeted by senior officials of Amur Oblast and the town of Blagoveshchensk, as well as members of the Belarusian delegation who had arrived the day before.
A reminder, during the working trip to Russia Aleksandr Lukashenko will visit Russia's Far East. On 12 April he is expected to meet with President of Russia Vladimir Putin. On Cosmonautics Day the two heads of state will go together to the Vostochny Cosmodrome. Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin will study progress of building the space launch facility and will talk to pilot-cosmonauts and personnel of the cosmodrome.
At the cosmodrome the presidents will have a one-on-one discussion about current matters concerning the Belarus-Russia relations, joint measures designed to counteract the sanctions-fueled pressure of the collective West, the situation in the region and the world, and events in Ukraine.
The day before, Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Vladimir Gusakov told journalists that Belarus and Russia are working to create a joint satellite for the remote sensing of Earth, which is expected to become one of the most promising ones in the world. The parties already agreed on the main points, some technicalities remain, including about the project financing.
“We are working on a new satellite. Its preliminary design has been developed, now we are putting it together. We are discussing funding issues,” the head of the National Academy of Sciences said. According to him, last week this topic was discussed during a videoconference call with Director General of the Russian state space industry corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin and will be discussed again during a personal meeting during the visit. “We have finalized a number of issues, some technicalities remain. I think that the heads of states will give the go-ahead for the creation of the new satellite, its financing and launch time,” Vladimir Gusakov said.
While in Russia Aleksandr Lukashenko will also visit Primorye Territory. The head of state is expected to meet with Governor of Primorye Territory Oleg Kozhemyako in Vladivostok on 13 April. Belarus' cooperation with this Far East region of the Russian Federation will be high on the agenda.
According to Belarusian Industry Minister Piotr Parkhomchik, enterprises run by the Industry Ministry may increase their export to Russia's Far East by 1.5 times.
Piotr Parkhomchik recalled that a Belarusian delegation visited Primorye Territory in 2020. Agreements in the manufacturing sector and agriculture were reached. “It is very important that all the tasks have been fulfilled. The export of Belarusian mechanical engineering products to Russia's Primorye Territory nearly doubled. The exports included agricultural machinery goods (tractors, attachments, harvesters), MAZ vehicles, lifts. Primorye Territory may be far but even products of a Belarusian steel mill are sold in this region,” the industry minister said.
In his words, sales of elevator equipment look promising. The Belarusian side handed over all the design documents and technological documents to the Russian side and trained their specialists. Selling assembly kits to the Russian region is the idea. The kits can be used for repairs and for selling new elevators in the region.
