Business news

17 Jan 2023

Belarusian ambassador meets with governor of Moscow Oblast

Dmitry Krutoi. An archive photo

MOSCOW, 17 January (BelTA) - Ambassador of Belarus to Russia Dmitry Krutoi held talks with Governor of Russia’s Moscow Oblast Andrei Vorobyov on 17 January, BelTA has learned

The parties focused on industry, especially in terms of industrial cooperation and import substitution projects, the ambassador told the media after the talks. "Moscow Oblast has its own very large import substitution program. It implements about 13-15 large import-substituting projects every year, so the governor was interested in Belarus’ capacities in terms of industrial cooperation," Ambassador Dmitry Krutoi said. “We already have very good examples: Minsk Motor Plant cooperates very closely with the Noginsk Fuel Equipment Plant; there is an elevator production facility with a high degree of localization and so on." Plans are in place to set up a joint holding of automotive components.

"The governor also invited our large enterprises to think about creating a multi-industrial hub where we could not only engage in trade and maintenance throughout Moscow Oblast and, possibly, neighboring regions, but also revive certain cooperative competencies," Ambassador Dmitry Krutoi continued. “For example, to produce utility, medical and fire vehicles on the basis of the MAZ chassis. This is a new proposal; we are now studying potential sites and infrastructure. Perhaps we will reach some agreements in the near future.”

Another item on the agenda was agriculture. "Moscow Oblast emphasizes animal husbandry, processing of dairy products," the ambassador explained. “Another item was greenhouse farming. The governor informed the Belarusian delegation about several large complexes that were put into operation last year and invited the Belarusian partners to get acquainted with the most advanced technologies of greenhouse year-round vegetable farming used in the region. In addition, the topic of fruit and berry processing was touched upon. We have agreed to actively cooperate in this area."

"Well, the third topic was housing and utility services," Ambassador Dmitry Krutoi informed. “In Russia, the waste recycling reform has been running for five years. In Moscow Oblast, all landfills were closed. The region sorts 100% of waste and recycles 50% of it. The region is a leader in Russia, with 11 new processing plants that are currently in construction and four waste incineration enterprises. Taking into account that the president pays special attention to this topic within the framework of our program, we also agreed to exchange delegations to launch cooperation on this front. In turn, the governor expressed interest in purchasing our equipment for waste collection and waste processing. This is the most important and interesting area of our cooperation."

The ambassador also said that on behalf of the Belarusian leadership, he invited the governor of Moscow Oblast to pay an official visit to Minsk. "We will put together the appropriate program. The governor accepted the invitation. I think that the visit will take place in the near future," Ambassador Dmitry Krutoi added.

Moscow Oblast is one of the main trading partners of Belarus among the regions of the Russian Federation. According to the Belarusian Embassy in Russia, in January-November 2022, mutual trade amounted to $8,874.5 million, up by 25.1% year-on-year. Belarusian exports to Moscow Oblast rose to $5,746.6 billion (+46.2%), imports totaled $3,127.9 billion (-1%).

Belarus’ major exports include cheese and cottage cheese, televisions, monitors and projectors, butter, medicines packaged for retail sale, condensed and dry milk and cream, parts and accessories for cars and tractors, ready-to-eat or canned fish, plastic containers, meat and poultry by-products.

In terms of Belarusian exports, Moscow Oblast ranks first among Russian regions. In terms of trade turnover, Belarus is the largest foreign trade partner of Moscow Oblast.

Cooperation with this Russian region is based on the agreement on trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation between the governments of Belarus and Moscow Oblast of 14 June 2000 and medium-term programs of trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation in major sectors. A working group has been set up to develop and coordinate cooperation with Moscow Oblast. From the Belarusian side, it is headed by First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov.