(para 4 adjusted)
MINSK. May 16 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that during his top-level contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin, they are constantly discussing the need to enhance integration, industrial cooperation and, most importantly, import substitution.
"You know, we are doing quite well. Even more than we expected," the Belarusian leader said at a meeting with Vladimir region governor Alexander Avdeyev.
"Everything that had to be adopted and signed by the heads of state and government has been mostly done. The way is wide open in order to fulfill those plans that we contemplated in bilateral cooperation," Lukashenko was quoted by the presidential press service as saying.
In 2022, the bilateral trade reached its all-time high since 2017 amounting to almost $50 billion and increased almost 20% compared to 2021, the president said. There is also a positive trend in the three months of this year, as the trade turnover has increased by almost a third compared to the same period in 2022.
"We need to maintain this pace by all means," the president said.