MINSK, March 12. /TASS/. Implementation of new decisions within the framework of integration between Russia and Belarus will make it possible to increase the Belarusian GDP by $8 bln and bring the GDP per capita level close to Russia, Ambassador of Belarus to Russia Dmitry Krutoy said at a meeting of the High-Level Group of the Union State Council of Ministers.

A new package of decisions for further integration activities was approved in late January 2024 in St. Petersburg, the diplomat said. "According to estimates of the Belarusian Economy Ministry, implementation of guidelines will enable increasing the GDP of our country by $8 bln. I would like to remind that the GDP totaled $72 bln last year and increased 3.9%. This is actually the expected result of our integration," Krutoy noted. "We anticipate the goal of bringing the GDP per capita level closer will be gradually achieved as a result of implementing guidelines," he added.

The main document for the three-year cycle comprising main directions of implementing provisions in the Union State Treaty keeps the focus "on seamless economic space, pursuit of coordinated macroeconomic policy, agreed fiscal and industrial [policies], evolution of common markets in transport and energy spheres, and coordination in the customs sphere," the Ambassador said.

The trade volume between Russia and Belarus was over $54 bln in 2023, considering goods and services together, Krutoy stressed. "This is the next our record. Despite all the geopolitical complications, in the environment of countering illegal sanctions, we are not losing momentum and we are taking numerous efforts to keep surfaced positive trends in our bilateral relations," he added.