MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. The deepening of integration between Russia and Belarus has helped mitigating the economic slowdown, Russian Economic Development Minister Maksim Reshetnikov said at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Russia and Belarus.

"It is the deepening of integration that helped us boost trade, and overall, mitigate the economic decline and the consequences of sanctions," he said.

According to figures provided by the Russian Federal Customs Service, the share of Belarus in Russia’s total foreign trade turnover stands at 4.9%. Trade turnover of the two countries surpassed $38.4 bln in 2021, up by 34% compared with 2020 (around $28.6 bln). Meanwhile, Russian exports amounted to $22.8 bln, whereas Belarusian exports equaled $15.6 bln. Belarus mainly supplies food and agricultural stock, transport vehicles, machines and equipment to Russia, while Russia mainly exports oil and petroleum products, machines, equipment and transport vehicles, non-precious metals.

Currently around 2,400 entities created with the participation of Russian capital operate in Belarus. The two countries carry out joint projects in such sectors as nuclear energy, car manufacturing, agriculture processing industry, space and high-tech, medicine, etc. The construction of the Belarusian NPP is the largest bilateral investment project between Moscow and Minsk.

Russia is the biggest investor in the Belarusian economy with accumulated investments exceeding $4 bln as of early 2021, whereas Belarusian accumulated investments in Russia totaled around $700 mln.