Putin says Russia-Belarus trade turnover exceeds $50B

MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said the trade turnover with Belarus has reached $50 billion and continues to grow.

Opening a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow, Putin said that with $4.5 billion in accumulated investments, Russia leads among the trade and economic partners of Belarus.

"Overall, our situation in the economic sphere is very good. It's quite remarkable—we have exceeded $50 billion in trade turnover. And based on this large base, it continues to grow – both last year and in the first half of this current year," he said.

Putin said approximately 40% of Belarus's electricity generation now comes from a nuclear power plant built by Russia.

The Belarusian Astravets Nuclear Power Plant is the first atomic power station in Belarus, situated along the northwestern border of the country. It started operations in 2020.

"We have created competition for Gazprom, which previously supplied only primary energy resources that Belarus purchased. Now they still buy gas, but naturally, the need for it has decreased," he joked.

Gazprom is a Russian state-controlled multinational energy corporation, headquartered in Moscow. It is the largest publicly listed natural gas company in the world and one of the largest companies in Russia by revenue.

Lukashenko thanked Putin not only for building the plant but also for "teaching" Belarusians to build them. "You fulfilled your promise, you taught us how to build nuclear power plants. Today, Rosatom and we are building nuclear power plants in other countries," he said.

Lukashenko also urged Putin to consider his proposal to build a new nuclear power plant in eastern Belarus.