On June 16, Vitebsk /Sergey Kochetov - BELTA/. The trade turnover between Belarus and Ukraine by the end of 2010 may reach $4.5-5 billion. This forecast was made in a conversation with a BELTA correspondent by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Belarus, Roman Bezsmertny. He is taking part in the Business Council of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Belarus and Ukraine, which is being held today in Vitebsk. Thanks to the increased dynamics of dialogue between the two countries, observed in the current year, problematic issues and mechanisms for their resolution have been identified, the diplomat noted. Thus, the plan of joint actions for the implementation of priority areas of Belarusian-Ukrainian cooperation, signed at the end of May in Gomel, allowed to specify the deadlines for resolving the most pressing issues of bilateral cooperation and to identify those responsible for their implementation. According to Roman Bezsmertny, about 90% of the problematic issues are related to the development of economic cooperation, which are to be resolved by August-September of this year. "Interdepartmental working groups are now actively working on elaborating the entire spectrum of issues, from the transit of Venezuelan oil for Belarus through the ports and territory of Ukraine to the transit and trade of electricity," he added. In addition, issues related to the cooperation of enterprises of the two countries and financial settlement mechanisms are being resolved. All this will allow for the liberalization of the economic interaction climate and the expansion of the "territory for cooperation" between the businesses of the two countries. Thus, a favorable climate is being created for increasing trade turnover between the states, the diplomat emphasized. -0-

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