Armenian PM arrives in Belarus on visit to expand (adds)
By Andrei Fomin

ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 2, 2005 Monday 3:13 PM Eastern Time

MINSK, May 2 — Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan arrived
in Belarus on an official visit on Monday to discuss ways to expand
bilateral trade and economic relations.

Margaryan will meet with President Alexander Lukashenko and Prime
Minister Sergei Sidorsky, and visit the Belarussian and Minsk
automobile plants.

The two sides plan to sign several documents, including an
inter-governmental protocol abolishing exclusions from the free
trade regime, as well as agreements on cooperation between the health
ministries and between major television channels.

The two countries will also sign a contract for the supply of
Belarussian mining equipment to Armenia.

A Belarussian-Armenian business forum and an exhibition of Armenian
goods will take place during the visit.

Relations between Belarus and Armenia have been steadily growing in
recent years. Their leaders meet on a regular basis. The two countries
have signed more than 40 agreements, their foreign and other ministries
have established closer relationships.

Last year, bilateral trade turnover increased by 12.4 percent to 10.8
million U.S. dollars. Trade has been growing even more rapidly this
year. In the first two months of 2005, it was 2.5 times bigger than
in the same period of last year.

Belarus supplies lorries, tyres, road equipment, chemicals, lumber,
and medicines to Armenia in exchange mainly for hard liquor.