Belarus reaches trade surplus with Russia first time ever

Belarus has for the first time reached a trade surplus with Russia. This statement was made at a meeting with President Alexander Lukashenko on the implementation of integration programs of the Union State, BelTA informs.

Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko stressed in his report that time has proved the correctness of the chosen course - despite the serious challenges, sanctions, restrictions and so on, Belarus and Russia continue to develop cooperation in all areas of socio-economic sphere and are achieving the result.

"At the end of the first 11 months of 2022, the volume of mutual trade in goods and services reached a historical maximum of $45 billion. I think that at the end of 12 months we will be able to overcome the $50 billion bar," he said.

Roman Golovchenko reported that for the first time in Belarus' trade with Russia, there is a positive balance - that is, the value exports of goods and services exceeds imports. On the whole, Belarusian export of the goods to Russian market increased last year both in physical and in value terms.

"We have always had one of the main problems with Russia - a negative balance. We imported more than we sold. And in some years this gap was up to $7 billion," said the head of government.

Due to that Belarus had to compensate the imbalance through trade with other countries, as the President noted.

Roman Golovchenko stated that Belarusian producers have managed to find ways to intensify work in the Russian market and a lot of attention is paid to the regions.

"Work with Russian regions, which has been carried out under your leadership, is bearing fruit. Every region is under special control, including the Belarusian embassy in the Russian Federation. The system is well established here. I am sure that this year it will work in the same way," he added.