Business news

MINSK, 28 March (BelTA) – An agreement on the volume of Belarusian food exports St Petersburg in 2018 was signed at the 10th session of the Belarus-St Petersburg Business Cooperation Council attended by Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov on 28 March, BelTA informs.

The sides signed a roadmap of cooperation in science and technology between the educational and scientific institutions of Belarus and St Petersburg for 2018-201, a memorandum of cooperation between the healthcare committees of Minsk and St Petersburg, and an agreement on cooperation between the Ushachi District Executive Committee (Vitebsk Oblast) and the town of Sestroretsk.

Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov and St Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko also inked the protocol of the 10th session of the Belarus-St Petersburg Business Cooperation Council.

The meeting participants discussed prospects of industrial cooperation, supplies of Belarus-made trucks, passenger, utility, and road construction vehicles, foods and consumer goods to St Petersburg. They also touched upon cooperation in construction, medicine, science, and culture.

Belarus-St Petersburg trade reached $1.672 billion in 2017, up 19.7% from 2016. Exports stood at $967.4 million (up 18.6%), imports totaled $704.9% (up 21.2%). The trade balance of Minsk enjoyed a surplus of $262.5 million. The major export items were fresh and chilled beef, cheeses and quark, butter, poultry meat and by-products, milk, condensed cream, cream powder, trucks, and sugar. The major import items were cars, engines and electric generators, liquid pumps, pipe fittings, and construction materials from ferrous metals.

In January 2018, Belarus-St Petersburg trade totaled $125.9 million, up 24.7% from the same period a year prior. Exports amounted to $79.1 million (up 21.3%), imports made up $46.8 million (up 30.9%). The trade surplus was $32.3 million.