Business news

MINSK, 25 October (BelTA) – In 2017 Minsk Oblast companies will export over $4 billion worth of merchandise and services, BelTA learned from Minsk Oblast Vice Governor Oleg Plavsky during the seminar held on 25 October to discuss state insurance instruments and financial instruments for export stimulation.

“We have already calculated that Minsk Oblast will get over $4 billion in export proceeds in 2017. The volume of export will increase by one quarter in comparison with last year,” said Oleg Plavsky.

In his words, Minsk Oblast boasts a foreign trade surplus by exporting more than importing. Russia accounts for over 60% of the entire export. Bearing in mind instructions to diversify export, it is necessary to step up shipments to the so-called distant-arc countries and Central Asia without reducing export to Russia. Advancing relations with China is in focus, noted the official. Certifying Minsk Oblast products for compliance with requirements of new markets is another priority. Although it is a slow process, there is a lot of promise in it.

According to Oleg Plavsky, while potash fertilizers make up a large part of Minsk Oblast’s export, the region has been able to increase the share of mechanical engineering products and dairy products in the export this year.

The seminar primarily focused on new ways of stimulating export and ways to encourage the reduction of insurance risks in export deals. Oleg Plavsky noted that the failure to use innovations in export operations is one of the reasons deterring the development of Belarusian companies. Exporters in various countries are backed by insurance companies. He encouraged Belarusian companies to seek assistance of insurance companies, too. The mechanism already works but small companies in the regions have been unwilling to use it so far.

Representatives of OAO Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus (DBRB), Belarusbank, and the export insurance company Eximgarant of Belarus also took part in the seminar.