Georgian Parliament Speaker Meets President Lukashenko in Minsk

President Alexander Lukashenko and Parliamentary Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze, Minsk, November 20, 2017. Photo: parliament.ge

Georgian Parliamentary Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze is on his three-day official visit to Belarus, where he has already met with President Alexander Lukashenko and Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Council of the Republic.

At their meeting, the two Parliamentary Speakers discussed a broad range of bilateral political and economic issues, stressing the need for further cooperation between the countries’ legislatures, the Georgian Parliament’s press office reported.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who also met Kobakhidze on November 20, said that Belarus “could only be grateful to Georgia.” “Despite differences in the country’s [foreign policy] orientation, we have absolutely brotherly relations towards each other … I know how costly it was for Georgia, but you have always honestly and openly supported Belarus,” Lukashenko noted.

“That we have improved relations with the West, with the United States – is thanks to Georgia and we are very thankful for that,” he added.

President Lukashenko also expressed his hope that the trade turnover between the two countries would reach USD 200 million, half of which, in his words, “is achievable this year already.”

Lukashenko spoke on his forthcoming visit as well, saying that he would travel to Georgia in the first half of 2018.

In Minsk, Irakli Kobakhidze will also meet Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov, Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei and  Vladimir Andreichenko, Speaker of the lower house of the Parliament.

Georgia’s trade turnover with Belarus, according to the State Statistics Office Geostat, stood at USD 76.2 million in 2016, with exports at USD 18.3 million (USD 20.4 million in 2015) and imports at USD 57.9 million (USD 20.7 million in 2015).