Lukashenko reveals major topic in talks with Putin

The talks between the presidents of Belarus and Russia are mainly focused on import substitution projects, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with head of the Udmurt Republic Aleksandr Brechalov in Minsk on 21 November, BelTA has learned. According to him, the two countries are capable of doing a lot if they unite efforts. “We can do a lot. Maybe we are doing it not so fast (although time requires us to increase the speed). I will refer to the talks with the Russian president. The main thing we discuss is that we can do everything, but we need a little time for it. Even today the main thing is not money. Today Russia has a lot of currency. Imports have decreased. Yet, we do not have much time and need to act,” said the head of state.

The two countries have outlined joint import substitution projects. More than a dozen of them will be implemented in Belarus. Russia finances, provides loans for projects. Thus, the parties expect to move forward at a fairly rapid pace in a number of areas, including the automotive industry and production of equipment and machinery. “These import companies have fled Russia, so today we have to use the whole complex that Belarus has — the automotive, machine tool industry — to solve the acute problems that Belarus and Russia are facing. We will resolve them. This year has shown that we are quite capable of resolving the problems that we have to urgently address,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed. In this respect the president emphasized the importance of the visit of the Udmurtia head for the further development of the Belarusian-Russian relations. “You are, after all, the heart of Russia. The people who live there can help solve the problems we are facing,” he said. “We