Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko urges focus on domestic ice hockey players in Belarus
“Of course, it is important to have foreign players to learn from. We are not going to decide against foreign players on the team. We will be, however, banking on our players first of all,” said Alexander Lukashenko...

Opinion: Azerbaijani trading house in Minsk will help boost mutual trade
“The opening of the trading house of Azerbaijan in Belarus will contribute to the effort to step up our trade and make it more balanced to prevent one-way movement of goods from Belarus to Azerbaijan or in a reverse direction,” Vladimir Makei said...

Belarus’ vice premier welcomes opening of Azerbaijani trading house in Minsk
Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko said as he met with an Azerbaijani delegation led by Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev...

Mikhadyuk: Belarus ready to answer all questions about BelNPP construction
"We want this not only for the familiarization with the implementation of our nuclear power project. We are also ready to answer any question about the Belarusian power industry. We are also ready to welcome representatives of your countries". According to Mikhail Mikhadyuk, over the past two years the BelNPP information center has been visited by more than 70 foreign delegations...

Lukashenko: Children's health at the heart of decision to modify school start time
“We do we expect from this decision? I think the major concerns are children's health, and them feeling good in the classroom. For an individual to assimilate the new knowledge, he should feel good. The goal here is to take care of children's health and their ability to assimilate new information,” the head of state said...

Belarus’ PM: Belarus, Russia’s Tatarstan should restore trade to $2bn
“Tatarstan is one of our key trading partners in Russia. We have eventually brought our trade back on the growth path. According to our data, the trade went up by 1.6 times". He believes that this indicates that the implementation of the plan of action to step up the cooperation between Belarus and Tatarstan in 2017-2020 is already bearing fruit...

Lukashenko demands results from Belarusian ice hockey team
“If we decided to develop this sport (it has become very popular here), let’s do our best for it"...

Opinion: Belarus needs to increase the export of geological services
According to the minister, apart from addressing priority tasks on subsurface study and oil extraction, Belarusian geologists should pay attention to increasing the export of geological services. “We have agreements related to the activity of our specialists with the Russian Federation. Our practices are interesting for Sudan and Egypt"...

Belaruskaya Dumka magazine hailed for great contribution to Belarusian statehood
“The Belarusian sovereign state has celebrated 25 years, and Belaruskaya Dumka is turning 95. Throughout its history, this publication has been building the foundation of the Belarusian statehood, promoting cultural and scientific journalism,” Maksim Ryzhenkov said...

Belarus prioritizes all-round cooperation with Ecuador
“Similarity of Belarus and Ecuador positions on the key issues on the international agenda, complementarity of the economies, similar approaches to solving social and economic tasks are a guarantee that our joint efforts will be fruitful,” the deputy minister said. In his words, the two countries have recently entered a qualitatively new level of interstate cooperation...

Belarus, China continue to develop cooperation in science
“I would like to stress that all-round Belarus-China bilateral ties have become an example of interstate relations in the modern world. This forum makes an important and essential part of a new chapter in Belarus-China cooperation. If our countries unify their intellectual potential, this will help promote scientific and technical development both in China and Belarus"...

Belarus shows interest in promoting international cooperation in innovation
“Belarus is interested in expanding international cooperation in innovation and promoting innovative entrepreneurship. At this forum Belarus and other states will discuss the ways to formulate a common policy on cooperation in innovative development, collaboration between hi-tech areas, and manufacturing of hi-tech products. The forum gathered over 10 countries"...

Makei: Level of Belarus-Russia interaction unmatched among post-Soviet states
“Russia is the top priority of our foreign policy. It is our strategic partner and ally in the international arena. The level of interaction that we have achieved over the years, in my understanding, is unmatched in the post-Soviet space. We coordinate our efforts in the bilateral format and in the international organizations in a systemic and trust-based manner,” Vladimir Makei noted...

Wiktorin: Great progress in EU-Belarus cooperation
“With regard to cooperation between the EU and Belarus, we have seen the significant progress. Step by step we have been improving the relations,” Andrea Wiktorin said. When asked about visa facilitation, she said that the work is well underway...

Lukashenko: Packed agenda for new head of Belarus Ice Hockey Federation
“Semyon Shapiro has been recently appointed Chairman of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation. He will have to do a lot at his new post. I asked to tell him that he would be assigned some important state instruction, monitor some issues. We need to use his experience,” Alexander Lukashenko said...

Ravkov: Belarus’ Armed Forces fully prepared to respond to modern challenges and threats
“Today, the Armed Forces of Belarus are capable of efficiently responding to any modern challenges and threats. We see the ways of increasing their combat capabilities through the improvement of the quality of our military equipment,” said Andrei Ravkov...

Kobyakov: MILEX promotes Belarus’ international standing
According to the Belarusian head of government, the forum has earned a high professional status and became an important part of the international military and technical cooperation system. The event always boasts a high level of organization, success and a constantly increasing interest from foreign states...

Belarus, Latvia praised for hard work to prepare bid for hosting 2021 IIHF World Championship
“There was a little confusion during the vote. We had to hold the second round which confirmed the results of the first vote. It only shows that the Ice Hockey Federations of Belarus and Latvia did a big job. I am confident that the tournament will be no less successful than the tournaments in Riga in 2006 and in Minsk in 2014,” President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Rene Fasel said when commenting on the vote...

Belarus advertised as excellent springboard for investors to penetrate EAEU market
Vladimir Semashko underlined that comfortable conditions for investors have been enabled in Belarus. Belarus’ membership in the Eurasian Economic Union is the key condition. Apart from Belarus the Eurasian Economic Union includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia. “This is a market of over 180 million people. Before the crisis its economy was gaining 6.5% every year”...

Makei: 25 years of Belarus’ foreign policy seen as good opportunity to verify plans for future
“The development of the Belarusian foreign policy over the past 25 years is an exceptionally broad theme which has been discussed by the head of state many times. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working hard on laying out its vision of the current stage in the Belarusian history through a series of publications, interviews, and an exchange of congratulatory letters with foreign countries,” Vladimir Makei said...