9 July, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. Trade turnover between Belarus and Russia in 2011 will exceed $40 billion. This opinion was expressed today at a meeting with the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Alexander Kosinets by the State Secretary of the Union State Pavel Borodin, BELTA correspondent reports. "In the first quarter of this year alone, the trade turnover between our countries amounted to $11 billion. By the end of the year, it will exceed $40 billion," said Pavel Borodin, noting that Russia does not have such developed economic relations even with some major countries of the world. The State Secretary also recalled that new union programs are currently being discussed in the areas of footwear production, construction, agricultural machinery manufacturing, tram and trolleybus fleet, and other areas. "Their implementation will contribute to the further deepening of Belarusian-Russian economic relations," Pavel Borodin is confident. As Alexander Kosinets noted, the Vitebsk region is open to considering any new projects and proposals. For example, a $3.5 billion project with the participation of a Russian investor for the construction of a petrochemical plant is currently being discussed. "We are interested in creating new production facilities, logistics centers, and developing industrial industry," the governor concluded, emphasizing that the positive development dynamics of the region allow us to look forward with confidence and make plans for the future. Thus, GDP growth in the Vitebsk region for January-May of the current year reached 113% compared to the same period last year, the share of warehouse stocks in the average monthly production volume was 32%, labor productivity and industrial output increased. -0-

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