Business news

MINSK, 8 September (BelTA) – Saint Petersburg will start testing the electric bus E433 of Belarusian make in September 2017. The relevant agreement was signed during the meeting of Minsk Mayor Andrei Shorets and Saint Petersburg Vice Governor Sergei Movchan on 8 September, BelTA has learned.

The agreement to arrange the trial operation of the Belarusian electric bus in Saint Petersburg was reached during the Saint Petersburg Days in Minsk in autumn 2016.

Saint Petersburg representatives said the city will buy 50 Belarusian electric buses after the trial performance is over.

During the meeting the sides also mentioned a number of cooperation areas of mutual interest. Transport, urban development, and light industry are the key items on the list. Developing a better architectural concept for building a Belarusian city block in Saint Petersburg and a Saint Petersburg city block in Minsk is also on the agenda. Preparations for symmetric tenders are now in progress.

The Saint Petersburg block in Minsk is supposed to be located along Semashko Street in Moskovsky District. In Saint Petersburg the Belarusian block will be located in Polyustrovo District. Sergei Movchan said that preparations for building the Belarusian city block in Saint Petersburg had begun already. There are plans to finish preparing the land plot in Minsk in Q4 2017. The Minsk mayor underlined that the land plot for the Saint Petersburg block develops dynamically and has a lot of promise as far as urban development is concerned.

Saint Petersburg representatives also expressed their interest in hosting Belarusian fashion days in the Russian city, including fashion parades and a roundtable session for businessmen. The Russian delegation came to Minsk to participate in the celebration of the 950^th anniversary of the Belarusian capital. Members of the delegation are also expected to visit OAO Kamvol and get familiar with the production of wool fabric.

Saint Petersburg is fourth on the list of Minsk’s export destinations among Russian cities, with the city’s share at 6.4%. Minsk’s main exports include motorized vehicles for transporting cargoes, oil and oil products, cattle meat, fresh tomatoes, products for transporting or packaging plastic goods.