Belarus planning regional commercial centers in Russia - Lukashenko

MINSK. Oct 10 (Interfax) - Belarus intends to territorially structure its trade with Russia and create commercial centers in Russia's regions, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"Belarus has now set a course to structure its capabilities in Russia. Today, Belarus is in high demand, but we ourselves are not very large. Therefore, we need to clearly understand where the centers will be through which we will work with the Russian Federation," Lukashenko said at a meeting with the Governor of Russia's Novosibirsk Region Andrei Travnikov on Tuesday in Minsk, as cited by BelTA.

One of these centers may be located in Novosibirsk, given the geographical location and significance of this region, Lukashenko said. "Without Novosibirsk, you miss out on half of Russia, at least beyond the Urals. Therefore, our interests should be concentrated here not only in the Novosibirsk area, but in the entire Siberian region. We in the government will make this decision soon, and will make serious efforts to develop Novosibirsk, a center of competence and a center of commerce in the vast expanse of Russia," he said.

Lukashenko is also confident that Russian regions can, together with Belarus, develop trade in the markets of third countries, specifically in Africa. "There is great demand for us there. At the last meeting with the Russian President, we discussed this issue in detail. The Soviet Union, our experts say, for example, in Africa, at one time made a huge contribution, creating a huge foundation and basis for the current cooperation with the post-Soviet republics, above all Belarus and Russia, on that continent," he said.

"We need to take advantage of this. By promoting our own interests, we are supporting the development of both African and Asian countries that have been waiting for us there for a long time. We need to work together here," Lukashenko said.