Union State of Belarus, Russia hailed as leader among integration associations, example to follow

AmbassadorDmitry Krutoi called the signing of the Union State Treaty a milestone event for the peoples of Belarus and Russia. "During this period, the Union State, in my opinion, has become the undisputed leader in many areas, an example among integration associations in the post-Soviet space if not on a global scale," he said.

According to the ambassador, the parties have built a fairly effective model of cooperation, laid down a powerful legal foundation. "To date, we have about 400 inter-country and 650 interregional agreements. This is a huge array of regulatory documents by which our two countries live in various sectors today," he said.

"During this period, Belarus has become the third or fourth (depending on the year) foreign trading partner of the Russian Federation. Our commodity trade has quadrupled during this period. Isn't that the result? In Belarus there are more than 2,000 organizations with the Russian share today. Approximately the same number, or a little less, of Belarusian subjects are participants in the Russian business. These are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of jobs and invisible connections that speak volume of the level of our relations," Ambassador Dmitry Krutoi emphasized.

As a fresh example, he cited the opening of the Belarusian-Russian tram factory in Nizhny Novgorod on 3 December. "We have more and more such examples. But we should not forget about the major joint projects that have been implemented by the two countries over the past 23 years. This is the nuclear power station, the space satellite for remote sensing of the Earth, and many more others," the ambassador added.