Aircraft and railway. Lukashenko and Putin discussed the implementation of two major projects

Belarus and Russia are discussing the prospects for implementing two major joint projects – one on the joint production and maintenance of aircraft, and another on the construction of a second railway line to the Leningrad Region. This was stated by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting with Governor of Russia's Leningrad Region Alexander Drozdenko, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

The head of the Belarusian state spoke about a telephone conversation with President of Russia Vladimir Putin, which took place the day before and during which the implementation of these two projects was discussed.

As the President of Belarus stated, their meeting is scheduled for mid-October in Kyrgyzstan (the CIS summit will be held in Bishkek), where they plan to discuss these projects in more detail.

"We are talking about the joint production of small-capacity aircraft, which are in high demand and needed in the Russian Federation. As the President of Russia said: such aircraft are in demand from large airports to remote settlements and regions, and they can also land on unpaved surfaces," Alexander Lukashenko explained.

Belarus has the relevant expertise, so the President of Russia proposed to build this aircraft together with the Belarusian side, as well as to more intensively develop the production of individual components for the IL-96 and maintain them in Belarus.

"We can do this. This is a very large scope of work," said Alexander Lukashenko.

Another project discussed by the leaders of the two countries is the construction of a second railway line from Belarus to St. Petersburg and the region, in order to be able to transport large volumes of cargo to Russian ports and operate worldwide from there.

"You understand that this is very important for us. We are involved in port construction there, in infrastructure. But the bottleneck for us is the railway," the Belarusian leader noted.

According to the President, the prospects for project implementation have already been discussed with Russian agencies, and a package of necessary documents and materials has been prepared, which will be submitted to the head of the Russian state.

Source: belta.by