MINSK, 10 June (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia are confident about the future, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Belarus Boris Gryzlov told reporters, BelTA has learned.
Boris Gryzlov noted that Belarus-Russia cooperation is based on the principle “Two countries - one economy.” Belarus and Russia are making good progress in aligning their economies. Indeed: in recent years, bilateral trade has been growing steadily.
“The growth is estimated not at a few percent, but at tens of percent. Such growth was reported in 2022 and in 2023. In the first three months of 2024 the trade already grew by almost 20%. This is a huge increase,” the diplomat said. Belarus' export to Russia is also on the up and up. This is very important, because the sanctions took a wrecking ball to exports. But the country managed to make up for the lost export contracts. There are transit corridors through Russia to the East. Thus, we are confident about the future,” the ambassador remarked.
Boris Gryzlov noted that Belarus and Russia are now implementing many promising projects. Many of them are related to logistics. Thus, just the other day a train service was launched between Russia's Pskov and Belarus.
“Stations will gradually emerge deeper into Belarus,” he said. “We are now working on Smolensk-Orsha and Smolensk-Vitebsk railway links. These plans will be implemented this year.”
Boris Gryzlov also recalled that many Russian regions launched direct flights to the Belarusian capital, and their number will grow.
“Interesting projects include the Moscow-Minsk high-speed railway. The traveling time between the two capitals will be about three hours. This is a great project, and it will also be implemented,” the head of the Russian diplomatic mission added.
On 9 June, a large concert to mark Russia Day took place at the Palace of the Republic in Minsk. This day commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) on 12 June 1990.
The lineup of the concert included performers and music groups from Russia and Belarus: Kuban Cossack Choir, Irina Vidova-Molchan, Timur Pryakhin, Discomafia group, Sergei Rogozhin, Vasily Gerello, Alexander Buinov and Alexander Marshal. The children's ensemble Allegro from the Lugansk People's Republic was the special guest of the event.