Business news

SLUTSK, 16 February (BelTA) – There is a need to clearly determine the raw sugar beet growing zones, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko noted as he met with employees of Slutsk Sugar Plant on 16 February, BelTA has learned.

The head of state suggested cultivating sugar beet in the places that can ensure high profitability, where companies will be interested in the sugar beet production.

The president was briefed on the development of the sugar industry and the production of import-substituting sugar-containing goods. He got familiar with the company that underwent major upgrades, the advanced technologies used there and also attended an exhibition of products made by the domestic sugar plants.

Last year, the raw sugar beet production zones were optimized to include 389 companies in 50 districts of Brest, Grodno, Minsk and Mogilev oblasts. For comparison: in 2007 the sugar beet was produced by 570 farms in 57 districts of the five oblasts.

Last year Belarus cropped the record high sugar beet harvest of 4,927,200 tonnes of beets, up by 15% from 2016. The sugar companies fully met the sugar production target.

The president was informed that the Slutsk plant processed the record harvest within the optimal time frame (125 days) operating at the 100% capacity.

Given the sharp decline in the sugar prices in Russia the measures were taken to diversify exports. In 2017 Belarusian-made sugar was shipped to 16 countries around the world.