Business news

5 Feb 2024

BUCE to help supply Belarusian agricultural products to Russia’s Kamchatka Krai

Photo by BUCE

MINSK, 5 February (BelTA) – The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) is ready to provide assistance to enterprises of Russia’s Kamchatka Krai interested in purchasing Belarusian agricultural products by providing direct access to the largest domestic producers. Supplies of dairy products to the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia are viewed as a priority area of work in exchange trade with Kamchatka, BelTA learned from the BUCE press service.

This issue was discussed during the visit of a business delegation from Kamchatka Krai to the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 5 February. The delegation included representatives of 13 Kamchatka companies - mainly small and medium-sized businesses.

“Increasing exports of agricultural products to the Russian Federation is one of the key tasks for BUCE this year. Last year, the amount of transactions to sell Belarusian agricultural products on the Russian market increased 4.5 times. Butter, dry milk and rennet cheeses were the most popular export items. In terms of cost, they accounted for 88% of all exchange sales of Belarus’ agricultural products to Russia. The biggest buyers of Belarusian dairy products were companies from Moscow Oblast, Leningrad Oblast, Ivanovo Oblast, Smolensk Oblast, Novgorod Oblast and Rostov Oblast, as well as from the Republic of Tatarstan and Stavropol Territory. Primorye Territory is the only region in the Far Eastern Federal District that uses BUCE to purchase agricultural products. In 2023, enterprises from this region concluded several pilot transactions to buy powdered milk, and in January 2024, the amount of transactions increased substantially, with butter added to the product list. There are plans to use the same pattern to build cooperation with Kamchatka Krai, especially since Kamchatka entrepreneurs are interested in cooperation with Belarusian exporters,” the BUCE press service reported.

As of 31 January 2024, 3,642 companies from the Russian Federation were accredited at BUCE, and the amount of exchange transactions concluded by them increased by 9.8 times over January 2023. The main drivers of growth were exports of Belarusian dairy products, lumber and cellular concrete blocks.