Business news

MOSCOW, 26 December (BelTA – TASS) - The trade between Russia and Belarus will reach $26 billion in 2017, Belarus’ Ambassador to Moscow Igor Petrishenko said in an interview with the Russian NTV Channel.

“This year the trend of economy recovery and growth is observed both in the Russian Federation and also in the Republic of Belarus. The primary indicator is the level of economic relations, the level of trade. It reached $26 billion,” he said.

The Ambassador recalled that Russia traditionally holds a big share in foreign trade of Belarus - about 51%. “Belarus is not lagging behind. We are in the top five major trading partners of the Russian Federation,” Ambassador Igor Petrishenko noted.

At a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Belarus-Russia Union State, which took place in early December, Belarus Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov stated that the two countries' trade may reach $28 billion in 2017, the level of trade the two countries had in 2010.