The President’s press Secretary Dmitry Peskov denied reports that Vladimir Putin allegedly supported the idea of Alexander Lukashenko to the Belarusian Finance farmers for banana production with subsequent export to Russia.
“It was a joke a joke,” Peskov said , without giving further details.
A resonant statement of the Belarusian President made on Wednesday in Minsk at the third Forum of regions of Russia and Belarus, after talks with the Russian leader. “Little secret. In closed session he (Putin. —) said: we will Fund the gardens in Belarus. If possible, better to let your farmers produce apples and so on until the bananas and sell to Russia. I support this position”, — told reporters Lukashenko Putin’s statement.
Putin, these words are not commented. In his speech he noted that half of the export products of Belarus is the Russian market, “but maybe even more.” “If some steps be taken, the Belarusian colleagues can do more to supply,” hoped the head of Russia. “We want to have Belarusian products, not transit passing”, — noted the President.
According to statistics of the Federal customs service, during the first half of 2015, Belarus increased the import of food sanctions. In five months of 2015 it was brought to Russia 916,4 thousand tons of goods the importation of which is restricted from certain countries against 568,3 thousand tons in the same period last year, experts of the Moscow Center of international trade. As a result, the share of this country’s sanctions on the supply of food in Russia increased from 13.5 to 21%.
