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Russian ambassador says that Putin-Lukashenko meeting will help settle many economic issues

The forthcoming meeting of Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin will help settle many issues in bilateral trade and economic relations, Aleksandr Surikov, the Russian ambassador to Belarus, told reporters in Minsk on Friday.

The leaders of Belarus and Russia are expected to meet in Moscow on November 9 and 10.

"I think the meeting won't be easy, but we hope it will settle a lot," Mr. Surikov said, adding that the trade and economic aspect is the basis of Belarusian-Russian relations and the foundation for the formation of the Union State.

Mr. Surikov noted progress in the two countries' relations in 2006.

In particular, he said that the Moscow would build up to one million square meters of housing in Minsk, a number of hypermarkets, a representative office of Moscow and had already begun carrying out these projects. Mr. Surikov said that Moscow would contribute some $1 billion in Belarus' economy.

In the first nine months of 2006, many Russian delegations, including a large delegation of the Northwestern Federal District, visited Belarus. A number of agreements were signed between the District and Belarus and are currently implemented, Mr. Surikov said.

In addition, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky visited the Siberian Federal District and a Siberian delegation is expected to pay a visit to Belarus.

Both the Siberian and the Northwestern Districts plan to open their representative offices in Belarus.

Trade between Belarus and Russia in the first nine months of the year amounted to $14.7 billion.

"We have no doubts that by the end of the year, we'll be close to reaching $20 billion in trade, the largest amount in the entire history of relations since we signed the Union agreement," Mr. Surikov said, noting that Belarus would be among Russia's top five trading partners and second after Ukraine among the CIS countries.

Mr. Surikov expressed confidence that Russia would remain the main investor in Belarus.

The acceleration of economic integration processes, including those within the framework of Union State programs, should contribute to trade growth, said the ambassador. "Our main task is to ensure a reasonable economic development for the two states by applying the existing integration ties between the economies of Russia and Belarus as a catalyst and using advanced technologies," he said. //BelaPAN