ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
January 20, 2005 Thursday 3:59 AM Eastern Time

Belarus, Uzbekistan sign deal on visa-free trips

By Andrei Fomin

MINSK, January 20

Belarus and Uzbekistan have signed an agreement on visa-free trips
for their citizens, sources from the Belarussian Foreign Ministry
reported on Thursday.

The document was signed in Tashkent by Belarussian Deputy Foreign
Minister Alexander Gerasimenko. The agreement will replace
multi-lateral Bishkek agreements of October 9, 1992 on visa-free
trips for CIS citizens.

According to the Belarussian Foreign Ministry, the signing of that
document was “necessitated by a need to replace multi-lateral
agreements with bilateral, as it is easier to control their
implementation, while amendments can be introduced more efficiently”.

Belarus has already signed similar agreements with Armenia, Moldova
and Ukraine.