Belarus-Russia trade to hit $23bn in 2007, Vasily Khrol says

According to the projections, the trade between Belarus and Russia will exceed $23 billion in 2007, Vasily Khrol, a Deputy State Secretary of the Union State, told a press conference in Moscow on December 12. Since the founding of the Union State the trade between Belarus and Russia has quadrupled from $5,2 billion in 1995 to $19,9 billion in 2006. In January-September this year, the Belarusian–Russian trade reached $18,1 billion, up 22.8% over the same period last year. Belarus maintains trade and economic operations with 80 regions of the Russian Federation. Moscow and Moscow region, St. Petersburg, Tatarstan, Tiumen, Smolensk, Nizhny Novgorod, Sverdlovsk, Vologda and Yarslavl regions account for 74.7% of the Belarus-Russia trade. According to Vasily Khrol, the integration between Belarus and Russia have been growign stronger. “Despite some difficulties the two countries have been making progress in the formation of the Union State which will become the basis for further socio-economic development of the two countries,” Vasily Khrol said.