The first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for a stamp souvenir sheet and a stamped envelope to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Belarus-Russia Union State Treaty took place at the Office of the Union State Standing Committee in Minsk on 6 December, BelTA has learned.

The stamp project was developed by the Belarusian postal service Belpochta and the Union State Standing Committee.

“This is a very interesting miniature sheet and every stamp collector will want to have it for their collection,” First Deputy Minister of Communication and Informatization Sergei Nesterovich said. He pointed to the symbolic nature of the first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony: “The Union State Treaty was signed on 8 December 1999. We tried to hold this ceremony prior to this remarkable date.”

“Maybe, 20 years is not a long time in terms of world history, but it is quite a milestone for the two states, it is time to make some landmark decisions. We are looking forward to such decisions,” Deputy State Secretary, member of the Standing Committee of the Union State Viktor Sirenko added.

The miniature sheet was designed by Elena Medved and printed in Bobruisk. The circulation is 20,000 copies. These stamps can be used for sending international written correspondence (letters, parcels, small packages) weighing under 20 grams.