Kadyrov insists on opening Chechnya’s mission in Minsk

President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov stands for active cooperation with Belarus.

BelaPAN reports about it referring to the press service of president and government of Chechnya.

During the recent working meeting of Ramzan Kadyrov and Shamsail Saraliev, minister of foreign affaires, national policy, press, and information of Chechnya, a question on cooperation between this Russian region and Belarus was discussed. R. Kadyrov said at the meeting “It’s time to move from agreements on paper to concrete actions and use an administrative leverage.”

S. Saraliev reported to the head of the republic the Chechen party had worked out a programme of cooperation of ministries of Chechnya with Belarusian ministries of culture, health, industry, energy, sport and tourism, and mass communications (he possibly meant either the Ministry of Information, or the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology – BelaPAN).

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affaires, National Policy, Press, and Information of Chechnya, it is expected to advance work in these directions. According to S. Saraliev, a cultural and business center in Minsk is being prepared for opening. An appropriate statement is expected to be sent to governmental agencies of Belarus soon and work in this direction will begin. A candidature for a post of head of the centre in Minsk has been already defined.

The press service reminds that a letter to prime minister of Russia Mikhail Fradkov was sent in August 2006 on the initiative of R. Kadyrov. The letter asked to fasten issuing of a decree of the Russian government “On Signing an Agreement between the Government of Chechnya and the Government of Belarus on Social, Economic, Scientific, Technical, and Cultural Cooperation”. The letter said that kind of agreement was “new for the republic and was very important for the country from an economic point of view”. This decree, approved with the Ministry of Foreign Affaires, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Economic Development and other interested federal executive bodies, was adopted in January 2007.

The first contacts between the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Belarus bear a date of March 2001, when a declaration of intent was signed by the Chechen Administration and the Minsk city executive committee. Three years later, an agreement on long-term cooperation with the Belarusian concern on material resources was signed. Besides, direct supply contracts with the Minsk Tractor Plant, the Minsk Automobile Plant, Amkador joint stock company, and Atlant company were made.

In May 2006, a delegation from Chechnya took part in celebration of the 61st anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War in Brest on the invitation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

After opening of the national cultural centre in Belarus, the Chechen Republic will become the sixth Russia’s region that has opened its diplomatic mission in Minsk. Missions of Moscow, the Krasnodar Territory, the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Dagestan, and Ingushetia work in Belarus.