President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko: Mr Putin, delegation members,
In early May we held events in Moscow where we agreed to have a meeting involving government members to discuss in detail all the issues of interest, like we have just done in a restricted format. We discussed the most sensitive topics on the bilateral agenda that are essential for our countries’ economies and stable development.
We also touched upon the international situation and discussed options for responding to risks and threats arising along the perimeter of our borders.
Despite everything, Minsk and Moscow remain committed to strengthening integration. We support each other and will continue to do so in all areas, and our projects have already gone beyond the earth’s surface.
Back to business. I will outline a number of other priority areas that require particular attention.
As regards industry, we plan to continue specific work to implement joint import substitution projects in microelectronics, mechanical engineering, machine tool manufacturing, and military and technical cooperation: in other words, areas that ensure that our countries’ goals of technological sovereignty and economic security are achieved. You and I, Mr Putin, have made all the decisions, and our governments must implement them in a prompt manner.
First of all, we should promptly complete the development of a unified industrial policy of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. Both sides will benefit from this. Many of our conveyors operate on each other’s components: there must be no protective measures from our partners at the legislative level. Instead, we should protect ourselves, as we agreed, from those who imposed sanctions against us and those who fail to contribute to the development of the two countries’ economies.
The energy sector is crucial for the consistent work of the industry and the cost of final products. We have to finally agree on the terms of oil and gas supplies to the Republic of Belarus. We have discussed this for several years, and today Mr Putin made a corresponding decision. I think the governments will finalise these agreements within the next few days. We have analysed all the nuances in detail.
Belarus is also willing to further cooperate with Russian companies in the nuclear energy. The experience of building the Belarusian nuclear power plant has opened up new opportunities to further develop these technologies, train qualified personnel, and jointly build similar facilities in third countries. (Addressing Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev) Mr Likhachev, we highly appreciate your efforts to bring our specialists up to the level of Russian competencies. We will be pleased to work in this area.
Transport and logistics. Much has been achieved, but manufacturers need more capacity every day. We need more substantial investment in the development of railway infrastructure, an upgrade of the rolling stock, a greater carrying capacity, and financial support for our air carriers. Efforts are required to increase the utilisation of Belarusian and Russian airports, joint projects that will improve connectivity across our regions, making transit easier and more accessible, although a lot has been done recently.
Public procurement: we are interested in working more closely with Russian state corporations. A couple of weeks ago, I raised this issue at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in Moscow. I think you will agree with me that there should be no restrictions for our cooperation across the Union State of Russia and Belarus; we should not be closing ourselves off from each other in our common market.
Moreover, the current situation has shown that we can only rely on each other as regards long-term cooperation. We hope that Belarusian businesses will step up involvement in investment projects being implemented in Russia. We have discussed this matter at length when we spoke in a restricted format. Mr Putin spent considerable time detailing ways to work together and integrate our enterprises into common value chains.
Regions – it was only recently that we have properly appreciated their potential. Region-to-region cooperation between Russia and Belarus has actually ensured a significant increase in mutual trade. On June 27–28, Vitebsk, Polotsk and Novopolotsk are scheduled to host the next forum of regions.
Mr Putin, it is my pleasure to invite you and your colleagues to attend this forum. I think that we will discuss this and coordinate our schedules closer to this event.
In conclusion, I would like to wish every success to your new Cabinet. I am confident that continuity will be maintained in terms of giving priority to Belarusian-Russian cooperation. I propose coordinating our approaches to these and other issues in an expanded format, if necessary, to make essential decisions at the heads of state level.
Thank you.
Mr Putin, please.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Lukashenko, on behalf of the Russian delegation, I would like to thank you once again for your invitation.
We meet regularly, but we certainly needed to sit down in an expanded format after the presidential election and the formation of the new Government, and outline the immediate trajectory of our mutual development.
You have mentioned investment. I agree that this is one of the most important areas of cooperation. I mean that we should definitely focus on the priority areas of cooperation which include, primarily, high technology and everything related to it. Without a doubt, our future lies with the innovative technologies.
We have accumulated great potential in this area. During the restricted-format meeting just a few moments ago, we mentioned the fact that what matters the most for us right now is our ability to identify top priority high-technology sectors and help each other develop the relevant competencies. The so-called sanctions have made this matter even more relevant, considering that Russia faces 16,000 sanctions of various kinds, which is more than anyone else. Of course, they do cause certain challenges, as we can see.
We can feel their impact, but at the same time they also offer us development opportunities, enabling us to quickly recover the competencies we lost. As for the competencies we never had before, we develop them as the need may be. It goes without saying that working together offers the most effective path to mastering these solutions.One of our current imperatives is to identify these areas for cooperation, and create synergies that we all need.
Indeed, energy is one of the most important domains. We have discussed this at length in a restricted format, and have reached certain agreements. I have no doubt that they will all be fulfilled. Our colleagues were instructed to finalise the issues that have not been finalised so far. Those are just technicalities; there is nothing significant there. The smooth operation of the relevant fuel and energy facilities will certainly be ensured.
I do agree with Mr Lukashenko that logistics and transport are among our top priorities. What I mean is that we must restore our supply chains and create new ones by working together and assisting each other in order to enable our companies to operate in an uninterrupted and continuous manner, including the companies that focus on the markets of the two countries, and third markets that are willing to work with us. In fact, there are quite a few such countries.
Mr Lukashenko did not mention it, but we have touched on another area of cooperation in passing. This is agriculture,which is definitely a priority sector. Belarus has been achieving very good results here, primarily in terms of the product quality.
I would like to specifically highlight this, and my Russian colleagues will confirm that Belarusian farm products enjoy well-deserved popularity on the Russian market. There are plenty of retail outlets across Russia with signs saying they sell products from Belarus, and they are very popular with buyers due to their high quality.
Region-to-region cooperation is also among our priorities. The heads of our representative bodies place great emphasis on this. The President of Belarus and I have always supported such exchanges and will continue to do so, because a significant amount of trade takes place at the regional level; it is concentrated in the regional dimension. The federal government actually does not need to urge the regions to do a better job, because it is already a lucrative business.
Thank you very much for your invitation, Mr Lukashenko. We will certainly take this opportunity and support cooperation in this area.
There is another domain – defence and security – which is extremely important in the current conditions. The President of Belarus and I always keep security issues under close review. We have always been collaborating with our colleagues on both sides, especially recently, when security issues have become more relevant than ever due to the Western community’s current policies with regard to both Belarus and Russia – unreserved hostility, and relentless attempts to restrain our development and damage our sovereignty. Those attempts have been unsuccessful so far, and I am sure this will continue to be the case. We feel absolutely confident and sustainable in this respect, and we will continue to strengthen our cooperation in these important domains.
Building the Union State is another important area. Our colleagues at the government level have done a lot recently to facilitate further economic and political cooperation within the Union State. Effective tools have been created for the further implementation of these plans. We will soon mark the anniversary of the Union State, and this, too, will certainly make our cooperation stronger and will promote growth in both nations and benefit both peoples.
We will continue to work to for the benefit of the people of Russia and Belarus, which is our shared responsibility.
Thank you for your attention. If any of our colleagues wish to add something, I am more than willing to give you the floor.
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