Meeting with Primorsky Krai Governor Oleg Kozhemyako

Belarus and Russia’s Primorye Territory have good cooperation prospects, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Primorsky Krai Governor Oleg Kozhemyako on 25 March. 

“We are determined to achieve meaningful results. Neither the pandemic, nor external attempts to undermine the political situation in our country or in your country can stop us. The events of recent months have shown that in the time of trials forced upon us from the outside, both countries can count on each other’s support and assistance,” the head of state said.

“First of all, I would like to thank you and the ambassador of the Russian Federation [Dmitry Mezentsev, who has recently been appointed the Secretary of State of the Union State] for continuous support to Belarus. He will always be our friend. We will certainly return the favor,” the President emphasized.

He noted that Oleg Kozhemyako knows from personal experience that Belarus is a reliable partner in all areas of cooperation. “This will continue to be so. A number of important joint projects have been successfully implemented in the Russian Federation with your support. You are interested in new contacts in more areas and you keep searching for promising avenues of cooperation, which is absolutely right,” the head of state noted.
 
It is noteworthy that Oleg Kozhemyako pays great attention to cooperation with Belarus. First, he visited Belarus in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2014 when he was the Amur Oblast governor, and then in 2015 in the capacity of the Sakhalin Oblast governor. He also visited Belarus as the Primorsky Krai governor in 2019 and 2020.

“Primorsky Krai is a long-term and promising partner of Belarus in the Far East. “I say this on every occasion and I am convinced that you understand this position of mine: Vladivostok is far away, but they are our kin. Our Fatherland still stretches from Brest to Vladivostok. No matter what some people may say, this is our Fatherland. There are sovereign, independent states on this vast territory now, the history has taken such a turn, but this remains our land,” the Belarusian leader emphasized.

Speaking about trade and economic cooperation, Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that the trade with Primorsky Krai dropped slightly last year, but the figures of January 2021 suggest that it can bounce back and even do better than before.

According to the head of state, after the previous meeting with Oleg Kozhemyako, business contacts were reinvigorated significantly in 2020: two meetings of the working group on cooperation were held. Many Belarusian company chiefs visited the region. “These efforts will undoubtedly yield good results, give a boost to bilateral trade and facilitate the implementation of infrastructure projects,” the Belarusian leader said.

He confirmed that Belarus is ready to offer its products and technologies in industry, agriculture, construction, and passenger transport to Primorsky Krai.

“We did not impose any lockdowns, our enterprises kept working interrupted and were doing pretty well. Today we can supply everything Primorye needs. You know very well what we can do. We are interested in supplying not only engineering products, but also food products, which Primorye has always needed. We can also set up various facilities using our technologies, like we did in Sakhalin,” the President said.

In addition, Primorsky Krai is showing great interest in cooperation in the construction industry. “We are ready to work on any turnkey facility in Primorye,” the head of state said.

Belarus is willing to share its expertise and knowledge in any areas of interest. “Taking into consideration that you are a great friend of Belarus, we can discuss absolutely any topic. I am convinced that your next visit will give an additional impetus to the development of our relations. We are very interested in this,” Aleksandr Lukashenko concluded.