Russia, Belarus discuss bilateral cooperation

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko discuss issues related to bilateral cooperation, including in the Customs Union and the United Economic Space. "We will have an opportunity to discuss bilateral ties, and we will also talk about integration projects," the Russian president said, when opening the informal meeting. There is sealed positive development in the integration projects, he said. All the three countries have good dynamic development, and their trade and economic ties and investment cooperation grow, he noted. According to the materials to the talks, the bilateral trade turnover reached a record level of dlrs 38.6 billion in 2011, 37.7 percent more than in the same period of the previous year. Russia's exports to Belarus reached dlrs 24.9 billion, and Belarus's exports to Russia amounted to 13.7 billion. Belarus's trade deficit was 11.2 billion against 8.1 billion in 2010, according to Itar-tass news agency. The bilateral trade turnover grew 18.9 percent to dlrs 26.15 billion during the period from January to July this year, with the Russian exports increasing 24.6 percent to 17.1 billion, and the Belarusian exports growing 9.5 percent to 9.1 billion.