Lukashenko: Belarus and the Chelyabinsk region trade for half a billion dollars a year, but there is room for improvement
Belarus and the Chelyabinsk region of Russia trade for more than half a billion dollars annually, but there is still room for improvement. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated this on August 11 at a meeting with the Governor of the Chelyabinsk region, Alexei Teksler, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
Welcoming the head of the Russian region, the head of state noted the rather significant volume of trade turnover as a positive fact of bilateral relations – more than half a billion dollars per year. According to the President, their personal meeting with Alexei Teksler (which took place in 2022) may have contributed to achieving such good results. "We have picked up normal momentum and realized that we can work with each other and trade," said Alexander Lukashenko. "This is good. But there are shortcomings."
For example, there is some lag in the volume of BELAZ purchases (compared to previous periods). This is a general trend, the President noted, as money in Russia has become expensive – loan rates and the Central Bank's key rate remain quite high. "This is a general trend, and I think we will overcome it," said the Belarusian leader, adding that Belarus had previously supplied a significant amount of this equipment to the Chelyabinsk region, and it needs regular updates.