Rustam Minnikhanov meets Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Rumas

On December 12, during his working visit to Minsk, at his meeting with Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Rumas, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov said that the Republic of Belarus is one of the leading foreign partners of Tatarstan.

Welcoming the Tatarstan delegation, Rumas thanked Minnikhanov for his attention paid to the development of mutually beneficial relations between Belarus and Tatarstan. “The development of contacts with the regions is the basis of cooperation between Belarus and Russia. Tatarstan is our long-standing partner and friend. In terms of trade, your republic ranks first in the Volga Federal District and sixth among all regions of Russia. This is a very high indicator,” he emphasized.

He noted that Tatarstan is a unique Russian region with powerful industrial and intellectual potential and close integration of science and production. “We see this as an example in terms of the petrochemical industry. Petrochemicals make up half of our turnover. Today Tatarstan is the main supplier of petrochemical raw materials that are not produced in Belarus, including ethylene glycol, synthetic rubbers, carbon black, acetone and other materials. Our enterprises also supply various petrochemical products to Tatarstan. Cooperation in the petrochemical industry is an example of how our countries can be mutually supportive,” the Prime Minister said.

According to Rumas, at the same time there is a slight decrease in mutual trade indicators. “I would like to discuss the main areas of work with you. In particular, what we can do to restore a record level of trade, industrial cooperation and joint production,” he added.

Minnikhanov thanked the Head of Government for the meeting and assistance in organizing the visit of the Tatarstan delegation to Belarus. He briefly told him about the preliminary results of the visit to Minsk, in particular, about his meeting with the counrty's President Alexander Lukashenko, his visits to the BELAZ enterprise and the Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War and the meeting with the local Tatar community.

“The Republic of Belarus is one of the leading foreign partners of Tatarstan. We are developing cooperation in all areas, including trade and economic relations, inter-parliamentary cooperation, we support our humanitarian ties. Mutual visits of delegations are carried out regularly. The strengthening of our comprehensive contacts is facilitated by the availability of direct flights between Kazan and Minsk,” Minnikhanov noted.

Tatarstan President emphasized that Belarus has consistently been among the leadering foreign trade partners of the republic over the past years.

Last year, the trade turnover exceeded 1.2 billion US dollars. Cooperation is developing in the field of petrochemical industry, machine building, agro-industrial complex and the supply of agricultural machinery, in the sphere of transport, medicine, IT technology, construction, light industry and other areas. Joint projects with a number of Belarusian companies are underway, he went on to say. 

At the end of the meeting, Minnikhanov and Chairman of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee Alexander Turchin signed an agreement between the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee on cooperation in the trade, economic, scientific, technical, social, cultural and humanitarian fields.