Meeting with Governor of Russia's Penza Oblast Oleg Melnichenko

Penza Oblast holds a special place in Belarus' relations with Russian regions, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Penza Oblast Governor Oleg Melnichenko.

“Penza Oblast holds a special place in Belarus' relations with Russian regions. Trade and investment are the key areas of cooperation between Belarus and this Russian region. This is the main thing and we will focus on it. It does not mean that other avenues of cooperation will be neglected. Naturally, we will promote humanitarian cooperation and cultural contacts. We stemmed from one root, we look absolutely alike,” the Belarusian leader said.

According to the Belarusian head of state, in 2021 the trade with Penza Oblast amounted to about $100 million. “This is what ended up in the statistics. Naturally, the actual trade is bigger,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
According to him, Belarus boasts advanced technologies in agriculture and is always ready to share its competences and best practices: “This pertains to such areas of our cooperation as agriculture, agricultural personnel training, technologies in seed production, animal husbandry.”

The construction industry is another promising area of cooperation. “This includes construction of housing, social infrastructure and industrial facilities. We have preserved all this from the Soviet times. Back then, Belarus was a trend-setter in construction. People from all over the Soviet Union came to us to learn how to build. This is an achievement not only of Belarusian builders, architects, designers, but the whole big country,” the President said.