MINSK, June 25 (BelTA) – Belarus has no unresolved problems with Russia, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko as he met with Rostov Oblast Governor Vladimir Chub on June 25. “Russia has been and is the main strategic ally for our country,” stressed the head of state. “Despite all the gas, oil, milk and other scandals we always remain open to Russia, to Russian people”. The President remarked that the bilateral trade is negatively affected by multiple limitations and restrictions introduced by the Russian side. “They run contrary to our agreements and actually worsen consequences of the world crisis both for the Belarusian and Russian economies,” he said. According to Alexander Lukashenko, the restricted access of MTZ products to the Russian market actually threatens around 170 companies that supply components for the MTZ from Russia. “Over 10 million Russians are employed by the companies that we work with using manufacturing cooperation schemes,” noted the President. “If the final enterprise is trashed, it means the suppliers will be down, too, with another 10 million people out of jobs”. The head of state pointed out the signed international agreements and the fact that they must be fulfilled. “We have signed agreements with Russia. We make future plans on their basis and determine tactical efforts. We believe that everything will be the way we agreed but then everything suddenly breaks loose. In these complicated global conditions we are forced to find new markets,” said Alexander Lukashenko. “Today I learnt from mass media that Rosselmash Director General said that all kinds of joint assembly ventures in Russia must be shut down. He claimed they do nothing but localise their products and so on. But if it is so, they should not have been created at all,” said the head of state. “However, it was a request of the president and the government of Russia,” he added. “What is wrong with us assembling machines and getting some components from Russia? Do we subsidize prices that much? We have equal prices for agricultural machines both on the home and foreign markets. We should stop all this fuss. Belarus has no grudge against Russian products that the Russian government supports and subsidizes. If Russia profits from supporting someone, we have no problem with it,” said Alexander Lukashenko. According to the President, support for agricultural producers is a complex issue that includes many things such as customs issues, fuel prices, production of agricultural machines, lending and many others. “If we compare everything, there is no difference between Russia and Belarus or the difference does not make Russia look good,” stated the President of Belarus. БЕЛТА
Written by belta.by
