Business news

BREST, 16 November (BelTA) – Several commercial entities signed contracts during the second session of the working group on cooperation between Belarus and Russia’s Irkutsk Oblast, BelTA learned from the official website of the Irkutsk Oblast administration.

Amkodor and Irkutskagroremont signed an agreement on joint production of grain dryers. Deals were sealed between the manufacturer of road marking materials and vehicles STiM and the road construction company Irkutskstroiprodukt, Berezastroimaterialy and Domashny, Brestselmash and Oblagrosnab. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Eastern Siberia reached an agreement on cooperation with the Brest branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Regional offices of the DOSAAF (Volunteer Society of Assistance of Army, Aircraft and Fleet) in Irkutsk Oblast and Brest Oblast also signed a cooperation agreement.

The second session of the working group on Belarus-Irkutsk Oblast cooperation took place in Russia’s Irkutsk on 16 November. The working group was chaired by Brest Oblast Governor Anatoly Lis and Irkutsk Oblast Governor Sergei Levchenko. The session was preceded by a business forum and a business matchmaking session, which gathered over 40 Irkutsk Oblast businessmen. They conducted B2B negotiations with eight large Belarusian companies, among them BelAZ, Mogilevliftmash, Brestselmash, the Brestmyasomolprom concern, Polesye, and Promindustria.

Sergei Levchenko mentioned some promising avenues of cooperation, among them supplying Belarusian-made agricultural vehicles and equipment to Irkutsk Oblast, setting up processing companies in agriculture and wood industry in the region, expanding the range of products traded between Belarus and Irkutsk Oblast, and bolstering cooperation in tourism. “Belarus-Irkutsk Oblast trade continues to grow. We plan to see some growth in 2018, too,” Sergei Levchenko pointed out. He also said that Irkutsk Oblast school students are expected to visit Brest in June 2018.

Brest Oblast Governor Anatoly Lis expressed Belarus’ interest in long-term collaboration. “We are interested in exporting our products and importing high-quality goods from Irkutsk Oblast. I think that Irkutsk Oblast will soon intensify cooperation with Mogilevliftmash, as the region plans to upgrade the fleet of residential elevators. With a local joint venture to manufacture elevator equipment, the region will be able reduce costs of end products and create new jobs. In general, the establishment of joint ventures benefits both sides as it reduces production costs,” the head of the Belarusian delegation stated.

Belarus and Irkutsk Oblast signed an agreement on trade, economic, scientific, technical, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation in December 2016. A cooperation agreement was signed between the Brest Oblast Executive Committee and the Irkutsk Oblast government on the sidelines of the Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia in June 2017.