Belarus and Russia stake on cooperation and import substitution

24 мая 2022

The presidents of Belarus and Russia had a big negotiation day on the issues of the Union State economic development and military and political unity. 

The official part alone lasted 4.50 minutes. Plus, there was informal communication. The range of topical issues requires serious work at the top level. Global restructuring of the world is having a serious impact on our region. Nevertheless, the Union State looks decent in the current economic storm. Sanctions pressure has pushed Belarus and Russia to the maximum rapprochement. Now the focus is on import-substitution and cooperation. Experts see the potential in engineering, agriculture, microelectronics, medicine, science, and many other areas.

Dmitry Mezentsev: We need to use the potential of the Union State to its maximum

Dmitry Mezentsev stressed that it's very important to use all instruments to maximize the potential of the Union State, including today, as a response to the unwarranted sanctions, which the West has been consistently displaying with regard to Belarus and Russia. 

"We are reaching a different level of interaction in industry, forming new import substitution programs," continued the Secretary of State. - First of all, mechanical engineering, support for the products of the engineering  complex, production of heavy-duty vehicles. Naturally, we are talking about the support for road building, harvesting and grain harvesting equipment. We are past all those disputes, when it was a matter of whose harvester was better and today we help each other more. Today we have to change the logistics of moving our goods. But most importantly, we do it on the basis of mutual understanding, friendly consideration of each other's interests and support."

Alexander Malkevich, General Director of TV channel "St. Petersburg", First Deputy Chairman of the Public Chamber Commission of Russia:

They only pursue their own interests to dismember our states, to turn us into resource-raw appendages of the West and to deprive us of our subjectivity. And now we need to move to a new level, we need a breakthrough. Realizing that this is for a long time, or even forever, we must really engage in import substitution. 

Alexander Malkevich, sees no problem in making our own furniture, equipment, creating products. "We can do it. So we must do import substitution in other areas, pushing Western products, creating dozens - hundreds of thousands of jobs, investing in ourselves, said General Director of the channel "St. Petersburg".  This, it seems to me, is the deepest, most serious challenge we face right now."

The political agenda of Sochi talks

The current political agenda was also discussed in Sochi. A new angle appeared in the Ukrainian disposition this week, and it was announced by Alexander Lukashenko during the negotiations. Under the guise of aid, Western countries can violate the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The Polish President's visit to Kiev and the special status for Poles de-facto legalizes the seizure of this country. This was confirmed by the Russian Foreign Ministry.