Business news

MINSK, 20 April (BelTA) - Belarus is ready to supply public transport vehicles to Nizhny Novgorod as the city is gearing up to host World Cup 2018, Belarus Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said as he met with Governor of Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Valery Shantsev, BelTA has learned.

“We would like to participate or increase our presence in the projects carried out in Nizhny Novgorod ahead of World Cup 2018. The scope of our interests is urban transport: buses, trolleybuses, trams,” Andrei Kobyakov said. Moreover, Belarus would like to participate in the construction of facilities for the upcoming World Cup. “We are ready to participate in construction projects, not necessarily as prime contractors but as subcontractor. We have the relevant experience and relevant agencies that can take part in construction projects in the Russian Federation,” the prime minister said.

He also invited Nizhny Novgorod Oblast to set up joint manufactures of agricultural machinery. “We maintain close ties in mechanical engineering, but we see that we have not done everything we could. We also see where we can add up, especially in terms of auto parts. We could complement each other here,” the head Belarusian head of government said.

According to Andrei Kobyakov, the relationship with the regions of the Russian Federation is the cornerstone of the Belarusian-Russian relations. Trade between Belarus and Nizhny Novgorod Oblast amounted to $500 million in 2016. “It seems a lot, but we understand that we can do much better,” he said.

For his part, Valery Shantsev said that Nizhny Novgorod Oblast maintains foreign trade relations with 143 countries. “Belarus is our biggest partner,” he stated. The governor expressed the view that the goal of raising trade to $1 billion is very reachable.