Surikov: Europe demands too much

Russia and Belarus cooperate like no other countries in the world do. The turnout is growing rapidly and we are partners in the foreign policy, colleagues – in the military sphere and so on. We are even building our own special democracy, Russian Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov said.

Alexander Surikov: “Russian and Belarusian history and culture date back to many years ago. And we have to take it into account while building up the civil society and in the process of the country’s democratization.”

Probably, that is why Minsk and Moscow have the same opinion about the attitude of the international community to these “democratization” processes.

Alexander Surikov: “We think that Europe demands too much. Release political prisoners! According to the law, there are no political prisoners in the country. They committed crimes. How can you release them?!  Who are political prisoners?! Do we have to admit that the Constitution and the law were violated? Does the government need to lose its face? It cannot happen!”

 However, the similarity of attitude does not mean that Moscow will help the official Minsk in everything connected with dealing with political opponents. Russia is planning a selective policy in crediting Belarusian enterprises for modernization.

Alexander Surikov: “’Give us money for modernization!’ What if we allocate money to modernize a Belarusian clothing factory and it will become more competitive than the Russian ones? Why allocate money to create competitors?!”

However, if the enterprise becomes “a Belarus-Russia business project” after the modernization, the Kremlin may find money for it. The Russian Ambassador mentioned the necessity of merging MAZ and KAMAZ again.

Alexander Surikov: “I can only regret we didn’t do it earlier (merged MAZ and KAMAZ into a holding – Euroradio). China left us a bit behind last year (in the truck market – Euroradio).”

 The merger of Grodno-Azot and Russian Evrohim is also being discussed, Surikov noted. Work groups deciding the fate of Integral and Peleng have been created. Russian Electronics and Roskosmos are interested in them and KAMAZ would not mind “merging” Minsk Wheel-Tyre Tractor Plant too.

The Russian Ambassador did not answer whether Russian military men had chosen a place for their airbase. He said that he did not know. However, there are numerous suitable airdromes in our country left after the liquidation of the Belarusian Military Neighbourhood.

Photo: Zmitser Lukashuk