MINSK, 23 December (BelTA) – The trade turnover between Belarus and Russia is set to total about $27.5 billion in 2010, Ambassador of Russia to Belarus Alexander Surikov told reporters on 23 December. In his words, after the 2009 crisis, the two countries have managed to improve their bilateral trade indexes. At the same time, the diplomat said that the sides still have a considerable way to go in 2011 to bring the bilateral trade onto the level of 2008. Surikov noted that joint companies are a good example of mutually beneficial cooperation. For instance, in 2010 more than thirty companies with Belarusian shares were registered in Russia. “It is companies that assemble machinery and passenger transport,” Alexander Surikov said. He stated that in 2010 the Belarusian companies saw a real payback from the involvement of Russian business and capital in the Belarusian dairy industry. Speaking on economic cooperation, he said that Gazprom completed the acquisition of a 50% stake in Beltransgaz. “It could become a starting point for mutually beneficial strategic projects. And we should keep away from a desire to get short-term benefits, which undermine the trust between the partners,” the Ambassador believes. Apart from that, in 2010 the Russian capital kept gaining a foothold in the banking sector of Belarus. In particular, Sberbank of Russia acquired a majority stake in Belarusbank.

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