Business news

28 Nov 2022

Belarusian PM comments on talks with governor of Russia’s Primorye Territory

MINSK, 28 November (BelTA) - Belarusian builders are welcome in Primorye Territory of Russia, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko told journalists after a meeting with the Governor of Russia’s Primorye Territory Oleg Kozhemyako in Minsk on 28 November, BelTA has learned.

Summing up the negotiations with Oleg Kozhemyako, Roman Golovchenko noted that Belarus and Primorye Territory enjoy sincere relations, and this bodes well for bilateral cooperation. "The talks, as always, were held in a friendly, warm and constructive atmosphere. Oleg Kozhemyako is one of the most frequent guests of Belarus from among governors of the Russian regions, and this, of course, yields results. It is also reflected in trade statistics. During almost every visit we map out new projects and initiatives, conclude new contracts, and all this multiplies the cooperation between the Republic of Belarus and Primorye Territory of Russia. So it was this time. We discussed in detail the agenda of cooperation, noted that a number of projects need some acceleration, and gave some instructions right during the meeting. There is reason to believe that we will end this year on a very good note, and that next year the cooperation between Primorye Territory and the Republic of Belarus will also be as rich, fruitful and productive," the PM stressed.

"For us, every visit to the Republic of Belarus is always an important event. Many of our enterprises and retail chains are already focused on Belarusian products. We see how the market for high-quality Belarusian products is growing, so we talked about the need to set up wholesale centers for food producers from the Republic of Belarus in order to reduce prices for these products," Oleg Kozhemyako told reporters.

He also spoke about the interest of Primorye in Belarusian vehicle, including road construction and maintenance vehicles. Oleg Kozhemyako noted that plans are in place to sign an agreement on the supply of road and utilities vehicles. He also stressed the interest in Belarusian electric buses. According to him, "they are needed in Vladivostok. We want to place an order and want them delivered in 2023."

“We are launching a joint venture between the Ussuriysk auto repair plant and Minsk Electrotechnical Plant to assemble transformers. We are building a demonstration and exhibition service platform to sell Belarusian equipment to Primorye manufacturers. We are actively working on seed potato supplies,” Oleg Kozhemyako outlined the points of interaction with Belarus.

The governor also touched upon another important issue that needs to be worked out in the near future - the organization of direct flights. “We can see that the emphasis is shifted to the East: a lot of Belarusian engineering products are shipped to our ports and a lot of Chinese products go back through our ports. The prospects for cooperation are very good here, and they are expanding every year. We see it in the volume of trade, which increases by 30% every year, and this year it is even higher,” Oleg Kozhemyako said.
He added that the sanctions could have a negative impact on the economy, but at the same time they contribute to the growth of trade. Primorye Territory and Belarus find mutual ways to solve problems, “to ensure that enterprises receive quality products, that there are mechanisms of import substitution. We are solving these issues thanks to the Belarusian machine-builders and agricultural producers.”

It was noted that today there are good results in increasing the volume of mutual trade, the parties have advanced in import substitution and industrial cooperation, housing and utilities services, agro-industrial complex and other areas of cooperation.

Roman Golovchenko also emphasized cooperation in construction. In his words, Belarusian builders have already been working on projects in Primorye Territory and are involved in the construction of the most significant projects, such as a cultural and exhibition center in Vladivostok. “Oleg Nikolayevich expressed his satisfaction with the quality, timing and efficiency of the work of Belarusian contractors. Therefore, he put forward an initiative to increase the number of Belarusian builders at the facilities of Primorye Territory. This topic is absolutely realistic, and will be taken into consideration,” the prime minister stressed.

Primorye Territory is one of the regions of the Russian Federation with which Belarus enjoys close cooperation, good trade and economic relations. The trade almost doubled from $17.3 million in 2020 to $32.7 million in 2021. This year mutual trade has also been demonstrating a positive trend. In January-September 2022 the trade almost doubled year-on-year.



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