MINSK, June 5. /TASS/. The terms of further presence of Russia’s two military facilities in Belarus are in the process of internal coordination. Russia will be notified of the decision in due time, the Belarusian Defense Ministry told TASS on Friday.
"The terms of further presence of Russia’s military facilities in Belarus are in the process of internal coordination. A final decision is to be taken by the Belarusian government. The Russian side will be notified of the decision in a working mode," the Defense Ministry said.
The inter-governmental agreements on the rules of using the 43rd communication center of Russia’s Navy in Vileika, the Minsk Region, and the missile attack warning center Baranovichi, the Brest Region, concluded on January 6, 1995, took effect on June 7, 1996. The agreements were concluded for a period of 25 years. Their term of operation expires on June 7, 2021. Either side is free to discontinue them by presenting a written notification no less than twelve months in advance (by June 6, 2020).
The Baranovichi center in Gantsevichi, the Brest Region, equipped by the Volga radar, began to be built in 1984. After a while the project was mothballed for several years. In 1997 the construction work resumed. The center went operational in 2003.
The Russian Navy’s 43rd communication center in Vileika (radio station Antei) has operated in the Minsk Region since January 1964. It is responsible for maintaining radio communication between the Russian Navy’s Main Staff and nuclear submarines on combat duty in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Also, the station carries out reconnaissance and radio-electronic warfare.