Prime ministers of Belarus, Russia eager to sign package of documents in sphere of energy

Roman Golovchenko said: “Thanks to intensive and purposeful efforts of the colleagues, who are present here, government agencies of the two countries [members of the delegations of Belarus and Russia are taking part in the negotiations] we've managed to promptly come up with reconciled decisions and end up with the signing – today I hope – of a package of documents in the sphere of energy.” He specified that those are agreements concerning the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and payments for the Russian energy resources Belarus imports.

The Belarusian prime minister mentioned the special nature of Belarusian-Russian relations. “Direct contacts and goal-oriented work at the government level are of crucial importance in today's conditions,” he said. “The new composition of the government remains committed to working out mutually beneficial decisions on all topical issues. We expect the allied nature of our relations to allow finding compromises on all sensitive issues. In our opinion, even the most pragmatic position should take into account not passing or short-term commercial interests but also the entire complex of relations that has evolved over years and decades.”

Roman Golovchenko stated: “The pandemic, crisis phenomena in economies all over the world, the lack of certainty – I can go on and on but in my opinion there is one conclusion: in these conditions we should not be divided, we should stand together and should be stronger because of it.”

He stated that this year's decrease in mutual trade due to the coronavirus pandemic does not mean Belarusian-Russian relations had gotten worse. “Not some systemic problems. It is definitely the result of the foreign economic situation and a number of other crises that have multiplied each other's effect,” he stressed. “Nevertheless, one cannot but recognize the fact that mutual lost profits from existing barriers, exemptions, and restrictions on access to the domestic markets represent a sensitive issue as well.”