14 July, Minsk /BelTA/. Cooperation with St. Petersburg is a priority of priorities for Belarus, which is related to the depth, special spirituality and ideology of bilateral relations. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said this at a meeting with a delegation from St. Petersburg led by St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov, BelTA has learned.
"Like all Belarusians, I highly value our good and warm relations with St. Petersburg," the Belarusian leader emphasized.
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Speaking on the topic of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War celebrated this year, Alexander Lukashenko noted that the people who suffered the most in this war were Belarusians and Leningraders. And it was the Leningraders who provided significant support to Belarusians and the city of Minsk in the post-war period in their restoration and revival. "The Leningraders were the first to come to our aid. Science in the Academy of Sciences (of Belarus - BELTA note) was partly born and the restoration of the destroyed country took place from Leningrad. Therefore, we have a very significant depth of our relations, based on this brotherhood," the President said.
"Leningrad for us, St. Petersburg is a priority of priorities," the Belarusian leader emphasized.
Speaking about the areas of cooperation, the President first of all drew attention to the products of the mechanical engineering industry, which the country has preserved since Soviet times and further developed in the sovereign period of history. For example, passenger vehicles are supplied to St. Petersburg from Belarus. "We will try to ensure that even those who are very interested in this - the so-called opposition media - do not use the fact that there is some kind of malfunction in our equipment."
In this regard, Alexander Lukashenko proposed, if necessary, to establish high-quality technical maintenance of Belarusian equipment in St. Petersburg in order to be fully responsible for this area.
Alexander Lukashenko proposed to continue cooperation in the supply of elevator equipment.
The Belarusian side is also ready to create joint ventures in St. Petersburg in all areas of interest: "The main - We need guarantees. If there is a guarantee from the governor that we are developing this here, come and work, we will gladly go under your guarantees. This is more important to us than any financial guarantees."
The President is confident that when creating such joint ventures, it is possible to ensure a significant share of localization on the spot, just as Belarusian products are partially manufactured using Russian components. "Even if we organize assembly production at the initial stage in your country, it will be 50% Russian. It will already be localized," Alexander Lukashenko noted.
St. Petersburg also liked the fire-fighting equipment produced in Belarus, and is ready to work with the relevant company. "We will support these projects in every possible way," the Belarusian leader assured.
Belarus's traditional export position to St. Petersburg is food. "We are ready to continue cooperating, creating bases and stores there in order to reduce the cost of products. These are mainly supplies from state-owned companies, processingcompanies. We are not going to profit from raising prices and we can prove to you that our products will always be cheaper than any products that you have on your shelves in St. Petersburg. I am not talking about quality. "You know very well the attitude of Belarusians to quality," said Alexander Lukashenko.
The official visit of the St. Petersburg delegation to Belarus is timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the twinning relations between St. Petersburg and Minsk. In 2024, trade turnover reached $2.46 billion (110.5% of the 2023 level), exports - $1.66 billion (111.2%), imports - $793.2 million (109.1%). According to the results of January - May of this year, trade turnover also has an upward trend.-0-
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