MINSK, 4 July (BelTA) – Russia’s claims of subsidizing Belarus are surprising, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko as he met with State Secretary of the Union State Pavel Borodin on 4 July. “I am surprised that the Russian leadership may fail to follow when they say they are subsidizing us, crediting us and so on. We used to be the assembly shop of the Soviet Union and we are now the assembly shop of virtually entire Russia,” said the head of state. “We don’t just consume their resources here. We create ready-made products, getting about 60% of components from Russia,” said the President. “Those are enterprises in Russia that employ over 15 million people”. “Do they fail to understand that by supporting Belarus’ economy they support Russian enterprises?” wondered Alexander Lukashenko. In turn, Pavel Borodin informed the President of Belarus about the progress in implementing Belarusian-Russian programs and about the development of new joint projects. The State Secretary of the Union State said that new Union programs for the civil engineering industry were being developed, in particularly, plans to build homes. “Thanks to you we will reach a brand new level as far as Union State programs are concerned,” stressed Pavel Borodin. The official said that the economies of the two countries are connected by joint programs in various areas.

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