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Mishustin: We keep in constant contact with Belarusian partners amid pandemic

Mikhail Mishustin

MOSCOW, 14 July (BelTA) – We keep in constant contact with Belarusian partners despite the coronavirus pandemic, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said as he met with Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko in Moscow on 14 July, BelTA has learned.

“Despite the coronavirus, we have been keeping in touch with our Belarusian counterparts and partners,” Mikhail Mishustin said. He added that not long ago Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin met twice – in Moscow and in Rzhev. “I would like you to convey the warmest greetings and best wishes to Aleksandr Grigoriyevich Lukashenko,” the Russian prime minister said addressing Roman Golovchenko.

Mikhail Mishustin stressed that it is important that Roman Golovchenko paid his first foreign visit as the Belarusian prime minister to Russia. “We see this as another important confirmation of the Russian-Belarusian special relations, mutual interest in gradual development of cooperation, strengthening the integration within the Union State,” the Russian head of government said.

In his opinion, the trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and Russia has been developing successfully. Last year the trade between the two countries exceeded $35 billion. “In January-May, the trade decreased a little due to the objective reasons, first of all, the coronavirus pandemic,” Mikhail Mishustin said. “By the way, Russian exports to Belarus shrank by about 31.9% while Belarusian exports to Russia – just by 7%. This means that in these difficult conditions our esteemed Belarusian partners have been working well in our market, which we welcome,” the Russian prime minister said.

For his part, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko noted that the decline in Russian exports to Belarus was primarily due to the decrease in energy supplies.

The Russian head of government also confirmed that the parties intend to sign the documents concerning the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and cooperation in the oil sector.

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