Belarus president gives interview to Kazakhstan's top news agency ahead of official visit

MINSK. KAZINFORM Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko has given an interview to the news agency Khabar ahead of his official visit to Kazakhstan, BelTA has learned.

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Khabar Chairman of the Board Yerlan Bekkhozhin shared his impressions: «Aleksandr Grigoryevich [Lukashenko] is a very interesting person to talk to. He wins you over with his sincerity. Few politicians have it while sincerity is something he was born with. He knows how to wield it well. I think even if some opponent starts arguing with him, the opponent will become his adherent sometime later. Because he knows how to speak sincerely and convincingly. This is why the conversation was very live, interesting, and educational.»

Yerlan Bekkhozhin said he had asked Aleksandr Lukashenko about problems of the Eurasian Economic Union, about further development of Belarus-Kazakhstan relations. Some questions had been personal. «We see videos thanks to social networks. He was busy harvesting potatoes in the last one. And he said that apart from potatoes he also grows watermelons and has cows… All of it will be interesting for Kazakh viewers,» the interviewer noted.

Khabar is Kazakhstan's largest news agency and consists of four channels: Khabar, the national satellite TV channel KazakhTV, the 24/7 information TV channel Khabar 24, and the movie channel El Arna. Broadcasts are available in Kazakh, Russian, and English. The television service is available to 99% of Kazakhstan's population. The national television news agency Khabar was established in 1995 on the basis of the information service of Kazakh television.

BelTA reported earlier that Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko is expected to go to Kazakhstan on 24-25 October on an official visit. Aleksandr Lukashenko will meet with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the city of Nur-Sultan.

The heads of state are expected to discuss the development of interstate relations focusing on expanding trade and economic cooperation. The presidents will look into prospects of expanding manufacturing cooperation, stepping up cooperation in various branches of the economy, including in agriculture, transport and logistics, petrochemical industry, and high-tech sphere, BelTA reports.

The sides will also discuss cooperation within the framework of integration associations and on international platforms. The regional agenda and the international one will be discussed. A package of bilateral agreements will be signed as a result of the negotiations. A Kazakh-Belarusian business forum will take place in Nur-Sultan in the same period. A new set of buildings of the Belarusian embassy will also be opened in the capital city of Kazakhstan.