OREANDA-NEWS. May 29, 2009. Belarus and Russia need to find ways to reach an upturn in the trade and economic cooperation. This statement was made during a meeting between President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Russian Premier Vladimir Putin on May 28. The Russian head of government has arrived in Minsk to take part in the session of the Union State Council of Ministers.

The agenda of the session features 22 items and, according to Alexander Lukashenko, the participants of the meeting have a lot to do.

The Belarusian leader believes that the visit of Vladimir Putin to Minsk can give an impetus to the Union State construction. “I will be glad if this session and the work of the current Union State Council of Ministers will help make a step forward,” he said.

The President noted that Vladimir Putin and he have already shared some impressions. Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin touched upon problems in the relations of the two states. “There are some problems that have to be addressed. We will discuss the whole range of issues pertaining to politics and the joint defence of the Union State.”

The meeting also featured the issues related to the global financial and economic crisis that Belarus and Russia now have to deal with.

Alexander Lukashenko expressed hope that the meeting will be fruitful. “I think this meeting in Minsk will be efficient as always,” the Belarusian leader underlined.

One of the crucial problems is Russia’s fulfillment of tasks that were adopted at the session of the Supreme State Council of the Belarus-Russia Union State in February. Unfortunately, the implementation of the agreements is delayed, and Minsk is not to blame for that. It is not without difficulties that Belarusian goods enter the Russian market despite the common economic area and powerful industrial cooperation.

Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin expressed hope that despite the global crisis the bilateral trade will keep improving. “We have achieved a lot in the economic area. We managed to contain the fall of the bilateral trade despite the global crisis,” Vladimir Putin said.

Over the three months in 2009, the Belarus-Russia trade fell down to \\$4.8 billion. The Belarusian export dropped 47.4% to \\$1.4 billion. Belarus now exports 691 commodity items out of 728 that were exported in Q1 2008. The drop in the Belarusian export was reported in 71 out of 81 regions of the Russian Federation. A number of major imports ceased, too.

“Today at the session of the Union State Council of Ministers we will consider additional measures to halt the downward movement and help the bilateral trade take an upturn,” the Russian Premier said.

The Russian head of government congratulated Alexander Lukashenko on the election of Belarus the venue for the Ice Hockey World Championship 2014. “Despite all the crisis-related issues, this event signals that it is absolutely possible to overcome all the difficulties,” Vladimir Putin said. He also mentioned Belarus’ intention to take part in the construction of one of Olympic facilities in Sochi.