Business news

Krutoi: Belarus’ export to Russia’s Bashkortostan as big as export to entire countries

An archive photo

MINSK, 16 October (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia’s Bashkortostan have everything in place to reach $1 billion in trade in 2-3 years, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Russia Dmitry Krutoi told the Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA reports.

“This year we are set to achieve quite a good result - $500 million, and this is no small feat,” said Dmitry Krutoi. “Yet, the trade can double literally in two or three years. We agreed that we will break down tasks for specific industries based on the structure of trade and investment projects that we have. Some tasks will be very difficult. Mechanical engineering and the manufacturing industry in general account for approximately 30% of the total trade. This is pretty much. I believe that if they maintain momentum, they will be able to achieve a two-fold increase in trade in respective segments,” the diplomat said.

New industries and new projects are needed, the ambassador noted. “One of the promising ones is, of course, light industry. Our first project was launched when the local company Kapman and our Kamvol entered into an agreement to produce fire-resistant fabrics with special protection. And literally six months later we saw supplies of their raw materials worth $0.5 million and production of 60,000 tonnes of linear meters of this special fabric at our factory. The project was a success, the leadership of the republic saw that Belarus had the necessary competencies, and is ready to expand the assortment,” he emphasized.

“Our exports to the region are comparable with exports to entire countries, like Azerbaijan and Türkiye, for example. Our three most recognizable brands - MTZ, Gomselmash and MAZ - will supply $25 million worth of finished equipment this year outside of cooperation projects. This is a lot,” - added Dmitry Krutoi.

“In general, I think it will take us two to three years if we build factories of the same level as Amkodor [to manufacture grain complexes in Ufa] within a year. If everything goes well with projects related to transport, tractors, if we build momentum in agriculture, light industry and woodworking and in the furniture segment, we will be able to reach this level [$1 billion] already in 2-3 years,” added Dmitry Krutoi.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks