Lukashenka Calls Kazakhstan Referendum Results “Impressive”

Alyaksandr Lukashenka met today with Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Belarus, Timur Zhaksylykov. The meeting was prompted by the constitutional referendum held in Kazakhstan over the weekend, in which the new Basic Law was supported by 87.15% of voters who took part.

“Whatever one may say, this is support for the president. He took a risk at this difficult time, put very important issues for Kazakhstan to a referendum, and the people — both in turnout and especially in voting (over 87%) — supported them. An impressive result.

I want to congratulate you. And please convey to Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich my warmest wishes and congratulations on the result. He did well. And also congratulate the Kazakh people, the citizens of Kazakhstan, on this success,” Lukashenka said, according to his press service.

It should be recalled that about 80% of Kazakhstan’s Constitution is being updated. The country will move from a bicameral to a unicameral parliament, introduce the position of vice president and implement other changes.

Lukashenka also touched on economic cooperation with Kazakhstan, noting that the country is a key partner in Central Asia.

“A huge country, a large population. Very good ties, very good plans for our cooperation,” he said.

As usual, he proposed significantly increasing trade turnover.

“We can easily double our trade turnover. We have the ambition to do so,” he emphasized.

Trade in goods and services between the two countries already exceeds $1.5 billion, while trade in goods last year amounted to $1.383 billion, of which $1.078 billion accounted for Belarusian exports.

In turn, Ambassador Zhaksylykov described cooperation between the countries as active.

“We have very active trade, economic and investment cooperation. According to last year’s results, trade turnover grew by about 30%. Very good indicators. Growth is seen in all areas — imports to Kazakhstan, exports to Belarus, and trade in services,” he said.

The ambassador noted that Kazakhstan welcomes Belarusian businesses in various sectors of the economy, including agricultural processing, production, transport and logistics, and the digital economy.