‘We have to work harder’

The economy is the basis and foundation of relations between Belarus and Russia’s Smolensk Region — as stated by President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko during his meeting with Smolensk Region Governor Vasily Anokhin

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The Head of State pointed out that the trade turnover between Belarus and Russia’s Smolensk Region once reached almost $5bn, “It is just a gateway for Belarus to the huge Russia. As Putin and I agreed, the three regions — Bryansk, Smolensk, Pskov — should be closely connected with Belarus. Moreover, St. Petersburg, a city that is dear to us and familiar to us, is close by. They are ready to liaise with us across all areas. We’re also working with Sakhalin. Anyway, the basis is our neighbours, and the fact that we are falling down a little bit in terms of trade turnover, we need to figure out in the Government what the problem is there, and work hard to make sure that we have this $5bn.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko named the creation of a MAZ service centre in Smolensk Region as one of the key areas of co-operation, “I don’t see any problems. We need to set up a service and maintenance centre. Otherwise, why would they need our MAZ vehicles if we can’t service them. Although Belarus is nearby, and we will always back it up, but it is necessary to have this site there as well.”

President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko outlined promising areas of bilateral co-operation: joint assembly facilities, equipment supplies, machine tool construction, land reclamation, among others.

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The Head of State named passenger transport among the most profitable areas of bilateral liaisons. 
According to him, over the past two years, Belarus has supplied 55 MAZ buses to the Russian region. Electric transport supplies are also promising, and Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed in this regard, “This is the future. People in Smolensk Region, as well as in Belarus, will have to deal with these issues. We have certain competencies; we need to work together.”

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The supplies of road and utility equipment also look promising. Given the fact that Belarus borders the Russian region, it will be beneficial for the parties to develop co-operation in this area. Moreover, the Belarusian leader spoke of the necessity to establish service centres to maintain the machinery locally.
As noted by the President, it is also possible to create joint assembly facilities of Bobruiskagromash and MotoVeloZavod, “It is beneficial for us, we have supported these enterprises, and we continue doing this at present as well. We need to move along this direction. After all, Smolensk will always need agricultural machinery.”
During the meeting, Aleksandr Lukashenko also touched upon the topic of land reclamation: Smolensk Region is interested in this issue, and Belarus has relevant experience: the republic restored mobile reclamation columns after the USSR collapse. “We will always be engaged in land reclamation, our soils need this. We have passed this path, restoring the equipment — such as bulldozers, excavators, and drainers. Our Amkodor enterprise is situated not far from you, near Orsha. If you need our experience and help to start with, then we are ready to provide you with all possible, appropriate assistance,” the Head of State addressed the Russian guest.

Belarus is also ready to supply fire-fighting equipment to Smolensk Region. As noted by the President, the republic already exports it to Zimbabwe, Vietnam, and China. Belarus is ready to lend a shoulder in road construction as well as implementing turn-key projects and acting as a subcontractor.

In addition, Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke of machine tool construction. 
“This is the future, no doubt. While in Irkutsk and Kazan, I talked with heads of enterprises, specialists, and aircraft manufacturers. They are very interested in machine tools,” he said.
The Head of State noted that there are no problems with the supply of Belarusian food to the Russian region: it is well known in Smolensk, and people buy it actively. Moreover, food supplies account for a quarter of trade turnover. Belarusians and residents of Russia’s Smolensk Region have always been friends and closely co-operated in all areas, and — as emphasised by the President — the freedom of movement should be ensured for the further normal development of relations. 

Aleksandr Lukashenko stated, “We have to move forward. I am in no case speaking of slowdown, there will be no slowdown on the part of Belarus. Speed is coming to the forefront. We live in the time when higher speeds are needed — so that those following us not trample us. We are ready for this.”

The Belarusian leader stressed that Russian President Vladimir Putin demonstrates full support in all directions, “We do not voice or show publicly all aspects because of the peculiarities of our time, but we have a lot to learn from you. We are doing a lot in this regard. If you are interested in something from us, then be aware that we are always your people, and are ready to lend a shoulder — even to the detriment of someone.”
The main foreign policy message of Belarus is that it is necessary to live in peace with neighbours, so the republic is calmly and purposefully trying to build relations with them. The Head of State, in particular, responded to the reproaches coming from some Russians that he is allegedly acting to please the West by pardoning certain ‘political prisoners’, and so on, “This is a primitive thinking, of course. 

True, we have a country, and our main foreign policy message and our aspiration is that it is necessary to live in peace with our neighbours. They are God-given. 

Well, can we change the fact that Poles, e.g., have lived with us for centuries?! The Polish leadership is taking such a dirty position towards Belarus today, but should Poles be to blame for this? For the most part, Poles want to live peacefully with us, and the same is true for Lithuanians, Latvians, and Ukrainians. Therefore, we are calmly and purposefully trying to build relationships with them. Nevertheless, our interests are above all. This is how we build relations with Russia as well. Therefore, there is no need to make any incomprehensible gestures on either side. There are two states, there is our common Fatherland — stretching from [Belarusian] Brest to [Russian] Vladivostok. This is our Homeland. It happened, not through our fault, that we have two states now: Belarus and Russia. I have never heard from the President of Russia that we must definitely live in the same state starting from tomorrow. Meanwhile, our co-operation is closer than if we lived in the same state.”

Best model of friendship and relations

The level of relations between the presidents of Belarus and Russia, Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin, is a model for the heads of regions of both countries, Smolensk Region Governor Vasily Anokhin noted after the meeting.
According to him, almost every third or fourth family in Smolensk Region has relatives in Belarus, and this is a very significant factor for the further development of bilateral co-operation.
“The warm, friendly relations between the presidents of Russia and Belarus are a model of how we, the heads of regions, should build the same good-neighbourly, open relations with our colleagues from Belarus. The key thing that both sides are keen on is industrial interaction, because we have a lot of co-operative ties. First of all, we talked about the implementation of MAZ investment projects related to apron buses and the creation of a service and maintenance centre. We also tackled the implementation of projects in the field of agricultural machinery together with Bobruiskagromash. This is also very important. Our farmers use more than 70 percent of Belarus-made machinery,” the Smolensk Region Governor noted.
According to Mr. Anokhin, modernisation of the tram fleet through the use of tram renovation technologies is also on the agenda.
“Agricultural products occupy an important aspect in trade turnover,” the Russian governor emphasised. “Trade turnover in this area has already exceeded 50bn Russian Roubles. The key crops are flax and rapeseed. Our farmers are grateful for the seed material we receive from Belarus. We discussed the creation of a joint seed breeding centre between the Flax Institute in Orsha and our Smolensk State Agricultural Academy.”

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by