Łukašenka says he is happy Western companies left Russia, rues collapse of Soviet Union

June 1, BPN. Alaksandr Łukašenka has made it clear that he is happy that Western companies left Russia, allowing Belarusian rivals to fill the gap.

“The Westerners have left and thank God they have,” his press office quoted him as saying at his meeting with Igor Artamonov, governor of Russia’s Lipetsk region, on June 1.

“We will develop what we have. You know, our former country we all lived in, the Soviet Union, basically got along without the West. [We were] just not smart enough to save the country but we were able to [survive] then and we will be able to do so now.”