OREANDA-NEWS. Belarus and Sberbank of Russia are satisfied with the level of cooperation that has been reached and are ready to discuss further joint steps. These matters were discussed during the meeting of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and Sberbank Chairman of the Board German Gref on 18 May.

The President pointed out that Sberbank of Russia had fulfilled and had even exceeded all the commitments undertaken five years before as part of the investment agreement with the Belarus government. “I should say that Sberbank has fulfilled everything, has even gone beyond that like no other Russian organization has. I am thankful to you for that,” stressed the Belarus President. Measured in U.S. dollar terms, assets of the Belarusian bank BPS Sberbank rose by 150%, with loans up by 130% and capital up by 50%. The head of state also thanked Sberbank for assistance with selling Belarusian vehicles. “We appreciate it,” he said.

The current state of affairs in the global economy was discussed during the meeting. The President remarked that he had talked about it with China President Xi Jinping during his state visit to Belarus. According to Alexander Lukashenko, he was concerned by the Chinese side’s evaluation of the state of economic affairs as slow recovery.

During the meeting with German Gref the Belarusian head of state invited the Sberbank head to share his views on the development of economy and the influence of negative factors on Russia and Belarus. “It is important for us for the sake of making projections for the future,” said the President.

According to Alexander Lukashenko, while in Belarus German Gref will be able to get familiar with the actions Belarus is taking to recover from the situation, which has emerged partially due to the state of affairs on the Russian market and with regard to the Russian ruble. “It would be very useful for us to work in a concerted manner,” stressed the head of state.

In turn, Sberbank Chairman of the Board German Gref thanked the Belarusian leadership for support and the favorable business conditions in the country. He remarked that Sberbank Group had nothing to complain about. The Sberbank head said they were ready to continue cooperation in the foreign economic conditions, which are not simple for both countries. German Gref suggested sketching out further joint steps.