MOSCOW, April 15. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev praised on Tuesday the quality of economic relations between Russia and Belarus, however, said a particular attention should be paid to the decrease of trade turnover between the two countries earlier in the year.
“I believe that in general everything goes well,” Medvedev said at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Mikhail Myasnikovich. “However, there was a decrease in the trade turnover earlier in the year and I believe we must pay attention to this fact.”
The Russian premier said the reasons for the decrease in the mutual trade turnover may vary and they must be subjected to detailed consideration.
Medvedev also said that a number of major Russian-Belarusian projects continue to develop, which is “a good result of our joint work.”
The Russian prime minister proposed Myasnikovich to pay more attention to discussing the issues of mutual cooperation in the spheres of industry, energy and agriculture.
Myasnikovich also praised the current economic relations between Russia and Belarus, particularly stressing the dynamically developing ties in the investment spheres, which “speak for the high level of trust between our businesses.”
Earlier in the month, Grigory Rapota, the state secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, said the trade turnover between the two countries reached $40 billion in 2013, which was a $5 billion decline on the previous year.