The event was held as part of the 13th Forum of Regions of the two Countries.
Minsk hosted a meeting between Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko, Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Natalya Kochanova, and the heads of Russian and Belarusian regions.
Valentina Matvienko underscored that this meeting remains one of the central events of the Forum. “This event invariably attracts considerable attention, which confirms the strong demand for our dialogue.”
As the Speaker of the Federation Council affirmed, more than 300 documents have already been signed within the Forum’s platform in diverse formats. “As always, our Forum is results-oriented. We are undertaking an important and significant endeavour together, and it is interregional collaboration that establishes a robust foundation for the continued construction of the Union State and the ongoing consolidation of our integration,” she asserted.
According to Valentina Matvienko, in addition to pursuing their own internal agendas, the regions act as genuine drivers of Union integration. Largely owing to this activity, collaboration between Russia and Belarus continues to intensify across a broad spectrum of areas, with particular emphasis placed on new technologies and artificial intelligence.
The Federation Council Speaker reported that positive trends are being observed across all key economic indicators. Over the past year, trade turnover has increased by almost 3 percent. More than 60 percent of the funds raised by Belarus originate from Russian investors. A pivotal measure was the establishment of a common trademark, “Goods of the Union State.” It is conferred upon products in the manufacture of which at least half of the components are sourced from our countries.
The Federation Council Speaker noted that this year the Forum is dedicated to economic interaction. At present, virtually all constituent entities of the Russian Federation are engaged in collaboration with the regions of Belarus. The historical regions of Donbass and Novorossiya are also actively joining in. “The potential for expanding cooperation with them – in industry, agriculture, and many other spheres – is immense,” said Valentina Matvienko. She called on both the Russian regions and Belarusian colleagues to devote attention to this opportunity and to intensify efforts to forge new links.
Valentina Matvienko drew particular attention to the permanent representations of constituent entities of the Russian Federation in Minsk. Such representations are already functioning for the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Tatarstan, and the Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk, and Chelyabinsk Regions. The establishment of offices for the Bryansk and Tula Regions is presently under consideration.
“Our task is to listen to your voice and your stance on the issues that concern you and to discern where, perhaps, support from the parliaments and bodies of the Union State is required,” said Valentina Matvienko, addressing the heads of the regions.
In her address, Natalya Kochanova highlighted the positive momentum in strengthening interregional ties between the two countries. “Our enterprises and regions are functioning effectively, and we can already truly feel the results of our work over the past 13 years. It is important to note that the Forum’s geographical reach is expanding year upon year.”
According to Natalya Kochanova, this progress is facilitated by an extensive treaty and legal framework – government agreements with all 89 regions of the Russian Federation and 450 agreements between Belarusian and Russian regions.
The Speaker of the Council of the Republic cited several concrete examples of successful collaboration. “Together with our Russian colleagues in the Grodno Region, we have established a large-scale plant for processing rapeseed. In the same region, the creation of a production facility for processing sunflower seeds to produce high value-added products is nearing completion. The production of MiNiN electric buses in the Nizhny Novgorod Region involves both Belarusian and Russian enterprises. The Minsk Metro today transports our citizens in comfortable, modern carriages, the manufacture of which is carried out using Belarusian machine tools in the town of Mytishchi, Moscow Region, at a plant with a history spanning more than a century. Last year, in the Russian town of Voskresensk, with the participation of the Belarusian side, a full-cycle cable products plant commenced operations. Today, the expansion of its capacity is under consideration. There are quite a number of such examples,” said Natalya Kochanova, noting the constant expansion of mutually beneficial industrial cooperation.
She emphasised the effectiveness of projects jointly implemented by the Federation Council and the Council of the Republic – the Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus, as well as the Train of Memory cultural and educational project, initiated by the heads of the upper houses of the parliaments of the two countries, the route of which this year encompasses 13 cities in Russia and Belarus.
During the meeting, the heads of regional and local government bodies of the Republic of Belarus and state government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation delivered their remarks.
Smolensk Region Governor Vasily Anokhin addressed the positive experience of Belarusian construction organisations in implementing capital construction projects, including social infrastructure facilities, in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and the further development of collaboration in this domain. According to him, the regions of Belarus account for 70 percent of the trade turnover structure of the Smolensk Region.
Irkutsk Region Governor Igor Kobzev reported on the advancement of interregional collaboration in various sectors of the economy through the mechanism of preferential state regimes. He noted that the basis for interaction in the trade, economic, scientific, technical, cultural, and academic spheres is an agreement signed as far back as 2016 with the Government of the Republic of Belarus. He invited Belarusian colleagues to participate in the Baikal International Forum of Partners in Irkutsk.
The address by Governor of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area – Yugra Ruslan Kukharuk focused on scientific and technical support and the attainment of technological sovereignty for the Union State. He observed that Yugra is currently steadily transforming its economic model from reliance on traditional resources towards the development of knowledge-intensive and high-tech fields.
Chairman of the People’s Council of the Donetsk People’s Republic Konstantin Kuzmin discussed the legislative support for implementing a unified economic policy across the territory of Belarus and Russia under current conditions. According to him, a positive practice of concluding agreements and their practical implementation has already been established between the Donetsk People’s Republic and Belarus.
Moscow City Duma Speaker Alexei Shaposhnikov reported on the harmonisation of national legislation governing the procurement of goods, works, and services to meet state and municipal needs, with the aim of developing mutually advantageous collaboration.
Chairman of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee Yuri Karayev outlined various aspects of the region’s economic collaboration. He noted that two-thirds of the goods produced in the region are sold on the Russian market.
Chairman of the Gomel Regional Executive Committee Ivan Krupko spoke about the interregional collaboration of the region with the Russian Federation.
The report by Chairman of the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee Anatoly Isachenko was devoted to issues of developing interregional collaboration in various sectors of the economy utilising the mechanism of preferential state regimes.
Chairwoman of the Grodno Regional Council of Deputies Yelena Pasyuta spoke about the interaction between the region and the regions of the Russian Federation on the path to sustainable economic development.
Chairman of the Minsk City Council of Deputies Artyom Tsuran reported on effective mechanisms for the co-participation of regions of Russia and Belarus in participatory budgeting and model projects.
A ceremony was held for the signing of documents on collaboration between the regions of the Republic of Belarus and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Prior to the meeting, the speakers of the upper houses of the parliaments toured the exhibition and fair of the regions of Russia and Belarus.