Belarus plans to increase transit of goods through ports of St. Petersburg

The access to the sea through the ports of St. Petersburg gives Belarus an opportunity to participate in global trade. Today, an important project for the two countries is being implemented here - the development of container transportation.

There are plans to transport about 7 million tons of Belarusian cargo through the ports of St. Petersburg, with more than 20 million tons per year in the future. Russia guarantees access to the sea, and this is extremely important for Belarusian products, primarily for potash fertilizers. Projects are also being prepared to modernize the railways leading to the port. This will help both Belarus and Russia resist the sanctions pressure of the West and preserve the economic sovereignty of the Union State.

Kirill Koktysh, Professor of the Department of Political Theory, MGIMO (Russia):

"Today, the United States is in a rather difficult debt situation. Therefore, Bolívar cannot bear two. Europe is paying for the United States to get out of this hole further, so that the United States could focus on Southeast Asia, where the main center of the world economy has moved. In this situation, the fact that Belarus does not depend on the West, on this conjuncture and does not pay the American bills, just makes it possible to make responsible decisions that meet the interests of Belarusian society as a whole, the Belarusian economy and the economy of the Union State. In this regard, it turns out that real sovereignty ended up in Minsk, in Moscow, and, as it turned out, it was practically non-existent in Europe."

Belarus and St. Petersburg have strong economic ties. In terms of trade turnover, we are in the first place among the CIS countries: in the first 7 months of this year, it has already grown by almost 10% and today it is about one and a half billion dollars. Belarusian companies participate in the reform of urban transport in St. Petersburg, supply buses, trolleybuses, as well as municipal equipment to the city on the Neva. We also cooperate in the field of science and education. Today, about 3 thousand Belarusian students and graduate students study in the northern capital of Russia.