The event took place during the XII Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia. The opening ceremony of the Consulate General was attended by Chairwoman of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko and Chairperson of Council of Republic of National Assembly Natalya Kochanova. Previously, there was a branch of the embassy in Nizhny Novgorod, now it is the Consulate General, the status has been upgraded by one step. This solves two issues: the comfort of consular services for citizens and further cooperation in the trade and economic sphere between the states. In general, the Forum of Regions aims to strengthen trade, economic, scientific, educational and cultural ties between Belarus and Russia.