Prerequisites in place for higher Belarus-Russia trade turnover

When asked how Belarusian-Russian relations develop in 2026, Yuri Seliverstov noted: “They are quite intensive. About 27 delegations have visited Belarus. They were led by heads of regions of the Russian Federation (by a governor or the head of a territory). Belarus also welcomed another 42 delegations led by a deputy head and more than 20 visits of ministers or official representations of Russian regions. This is not just some isolated cases or a couple of dozen meetings, this is constant systemic work. At the same time, about 50 of our delegations visited Russian regions during this time.”

The ambassador drew attention to the fact that businesslike work is underway, without which the deep cooperation the government and the president want is impossible.

“Trade turnover last year was close to $55 billion (merchandise only, no services). Preconditions are in place for exceeding this volume this year. While it is too early to talk about figures, the growth rates are quite good. We see [growth of] about 15% in various items compared to the previous period,” Yuri Seliverstov stated. “There are types of products, certain types of mechanical engineering products, which are lower due to the fact that Russian shipments and the Russian market are also lower. But the overall situation and the volume of trade turnover leave good prospects not just for getting as much but even for exceeding last year’s figures.”

Yuri Seliverstov noted that work is also underway in the services sector. “Transport services account for the lion’s share of this total volume. There are also construction services and IT services. They are provided both by us and to us. But we need to move forward in new variants as well,” the speaker said, drawing attention to the prospects of the tourism services sector. “This is a whole complex of actions. Direct air service can be organized to support tourism. Border commuter trains transported about 50,000 people.”