Belarus and Kalmykia intensify economic ties

The President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has met with Head of the Republic of Kalmykia of the Russian Federation Batu Khasikov

The Head of State stressed that, despite the distance separating Belarus and Kalmykia, the peoples have always been close in spirit, united by the common history and upbringing, “Our ancestors together defended the achievements of the October Revolution, won the Great Victory in the fight against fascism, restored the ruined country, performing feats of labour. We have been brought up to build peacefully, not to destroy. It unites us and makes us stronger in the face of all kinds of difficulties.”

Photo by BELTA

As for contacts with Kalmykia, they are becoming more active, the President said. The exchange of visits of delegations in September 2022, meetings and negotiations gave additional impetus to this. 

“I am sure however that the real economic breakthrough is ahead of us. We have a lot of products that might be of interest to your region — mechanical engineering products, construction products, IT, pharmaceuticals and high-tech transport,” the Belarusian leader said. “In today’s conditions, we can offer a good product in terms of price/quality ratio. Our products have long been popular in many regions of Russia,” the Belarusian leader continued.

At the same time, Belarus believes that it is high time to move from occasional trade deals to long-term contracts, to build repair facilities and spare parts warehouses, and strengthen industrial co-operation, the President noted.
In addition to agricultural machinery, trucks and passenger vehicles, 
Aleksandr Lukashenko advised the head of Kalmykia to pay attention to Belarus’ solutions in the agricultural sector and processing industry. After all, Kalmykia, as well as a number of other regions of Russia, launched a large-scale construction programme, and Belarus can offer a lot in this regard: skill sets, machinery, equipment, materials, as well as expertise and knowledge as it has experience in building various facilities across Russian regions. Co-operation in education, sports, tourism, medical services and culture holds a lot of promise, too. Belarus is ready to consider proposals within the shortest time possible.
“I think that you, as a professional athlete, will be interested in our sports infrastructure, our expertise and best practices in training athletes across many disciplines, physical education for the youth. All the conditions are in place for this in our country,” the President noted. In this regard, Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned the sports career of Batu Khasikov, who was professionally involved in kickboxing and is a multiple world champion in this sport. 

“We are always happy to host high-profile international competitions, as well as individual training camps of Russian teams. Belarus and Russia intensified co-operation in athletic training and in holding competitions in many sports. I think that this year we will surpass ourselves in organising these events. And we will consistently work to get our neighbours interested, as well as people from Asian and African states. If someone from Europe or Latin America wants to join us, they are more than welcome to do this with us and Russians,” the President added.

Aleksandr Lukashenko confirmed Belarus’ interest in Elista-Minsk flights that can be operated by Russian air carriers. 

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by