Minsk is the capital of the Republic of Belarus with a population of 1,992,685 inhabitants. Minsk has developed the machine building industry, the electronics industry, the telecommunications, the textile industry, the food industry.
The old name of the city was Мѣньскъ (Mensk), which is drawn from a river called Měn (Mēnŭ). Under the influence of Russian and Polish, the Belarussians took the name "Minsk". However, some inhabitants of Belarus still call their town "Mensk".
The twinning agreement between the cities of Minsk and Chisinau was signed on June 29, 2000, in Minsk, the Republic of Belarus by Mr. Serafim Urechean, General Mayor of Chisinau and Mr. Mihail Pavlov, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Minsk.
In the years 2006-2010, in the framework of cooperation agreements between the capitals of the two countries continued work visits with exchange of experience in the economic, social and cultural fields. Delegations participated in the holidays dedicated to the national and regional holidays of the two countries. In order to conclude mutually beneficial bilateral contracts in the commercial and economic sphere, an exchange of visits between Minsk and Chisinau took place.
Since 2011, on the basis of the twinning relations established between Minsk and Chisinau, with the support of the municipal authorities, the cooperation between the capitals of our countries has been intensified.
In March 2011, the first visit to Minsk was made by a delegation of the Chisinau City Hall. During the visit, a protocol of intent was signed regarding the creation of joint ventures, in particular, an agreement on the possibility of organizing a joint entreprise of assembly Belarusian trolleybuses in Chisinau.
During the cooperation between the capitals of Minsk and Chisinau, the first stage resolution of the project "Development of public transport from Chisinau municipality" was signed and a project for supplying 102 trolleybuses from the "Belkommunmash" company was implemented in Chisinau. The total cost of the project regarding the purchase of new trolleybuses in Chisinau was 13.7 million Euro, the acquisition of new trolleybuses for the capital was made possible by a collaboration between the City Hall of Chisinau with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank and the European Union.
At the second stage of the project "Development of public transport from Chisinau municipality", a trolleybus assembly point was created in Chisinau, based on the experience of the "Belkommunmash" company from Minsk.
The development of the connections between the capital cities of Belarus and Moldova is considered as one of the important factors in increasing bilateral trade and economic cooperation and expanding contacts in order to carry out projects of common interest.
An important street in the Chisinau from Botanica district bears the name of the sister city of Minsk.