Business news

MINSK, 11 January (BelTA) – Using the flax industry capacities may bring in a considerable contribution to Belarus' economic growth, Belarus Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said at the session of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers held on 11 January to consider the progress made in the implementation of the instructions of the head of state and the government to enhance the efficiency of the national flax industry, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian government.

According to Andrei Kobyakov, Belarus has always been one of the world’s top flax fiber producers. Favorable climate for flax cultivation can be seen as an objective competitive advantage for the country. In his words, using the potential of the flax industry can make a substantive contribution to the country’s economic performance thanks to the increasing demand for flax products on the foreign market.

The Belarusian head of government also stressed that the national flax companies have been recently modernized in order to achieve higher efficiency of the primary processing of flax. The cutting-edge high-performance equipment was acquired for these purposes. In 2016 flax straw was processed at 29 flax mills which have 54 (including 10 high-performance) technological lines for flax processing.

The major goals being addressed in the national flax industry today are to improve the quality of flax fiber, reduce its prime costs, and increase the flax processing depth for the production of finished goods with a high value added, the Prime Minister noted.