Belarusian ambassador expecting record-breaking trade with Russia at yearend

MINSK. Dec 22 (Interfax) - Belarusian-Russian mutual trade will see an all-time high for the full year 2023, Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Dmitry Krutoi, who has the powers of a deputy prime minister, said.

"We will once again see an all-time high in [mutual] trade this year: a surplus of 9 [percent] in goods, and another 6% will be added by our services in construction, transport, IT. The volume of trade between our countries in the area of services will surpass $5.5 billion in equivalent this year," Krutoi said at a meeting of the High-Level Group of the Union State's Council of Ministers, as quoted by the Belarusian state news agency BelTA.

The current year has also seen a record pace of cooperation between Russian and Belarusian regions, as more than 100 delegations of various levels representing Russian regions have visited Belarus so far this year.

"In turn, more than 110 visits have been paid by Belarusian delegations to Russian regions, including 16 visits by the Belarusian prime minister. Such intensity has not taken place ever before," he said.

Krutoi himself attended more than 80 meetings with Russian regional heads in 2023, including on the platform of the Russia expo going on at the All-Russian Exhibition Center in Moscow.

Belarus and Russia have settled the issue of lifting restrictions on any shipments or transit of Belarusian forest products, he said.

"The forest system will be the first civilian system to allow for a free movement of Belarusian forest products, sawn timber, [wood] panels and other export goods," he said.

Several information systems, specifically, the phytosanitary, veterinary, transport ones, have been put in place within the Union State of Russia and Belarus, mainly for controlling purposes, he said.

Best practices in solving issues in the area of forestry will be used in addressing the remaining problems in other industries, he said.

"A seemingly minor forest case has given rise to several well-thought out systemic solutions," he said.

The issue of Belarusian forest product shipments is very pressing, as the forest sector was basically the first to face total Western sanctions, he said.

"And our forest products, they were traditionally sold predominantly to Western Europe. And transport flows have to almost instantly be reoriented toward Asian and CIS countries. That is why transit via Russian territory has become critical for us, and it is a good job that we have in fact resolved the difficult problem," he said.

The Russian government has now prepared the final version of a draft resolution that basically resolves the remaining technical issues, Krutoi said.