BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/10/2007

Russia PM arrives in Minsk for visit

MINSK, October 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov has arrived in Minsk to take part in a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State. Belarussian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky met his Russian colleague at the airport.

During one-day trip, Viktor Zubkov will meet with Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, hold talks with Sergei Sidorsky and take part in a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State.

The meeting agenda includes 16 issues, including the adoption of the budget of the Union State for 2008, an issue regarding the results of trade and economic cooperation over the first six months of 2007, as well as the pace of works to harmonize the two countries' legislations.

Besides, the sides will discuss the preparation of an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of medicines production, as well as proposals on the development of new programmes, including improvement and maintenance of the military infrastructure planned for joint using to secure interests of the regional group of troops.

The two countries' trade turnover, according to the results of the first six months of 2007, amounted to 11.2 billion dollars or 20 percent more than that of the same period of 2006. The share of Belarus in Russia' s external turnover is 4.6 percent, while the share of Russia in the Belarussian one - - 48 percent.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11985996&PageNum=0