Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 12 December (BelTA) – Belarus views direct links with Russian regions as the bedrock of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, Belarus Vice Prime Minister Mikhail Rusy said as he met with the head of Russia’s Republic of Karelia Artur Parfenchikov. He expressed confidence that within two years the bilateral trade can hit the mark of $100 million, BelTA has learned.

Belarus’ trade with Karelia is not growing as fast as with some other regions of the Russian Federation. “With Karelia we are at the beginning. There is growth, but the volume is still small,” he said. The vice premier spoke about the measures which may spur the trade to $100 million. According to Mikhail Rusy, the parties can reach this figure in trade within two years. The trade was record high in 2013 when it exceeded $44 million. “We must aim for more ambitious goals,” Mikhail Rusy noted.

He suggested bolstering cooperation in the industrial field having welcomed the project to assemble Amkodor forestry equipment in Karelia. According to Mikhail Rusy, this plant may assemble other equipment. He also proposed to establish a maintenance center for Amkodor machines and MTZ vehicles.

Belarus hopes to continue cooperation with Petrozavodskmash, which supplied multilayer seamless pipes for the Belarusian nuclear power plant.

Mikhail Rusy also spoke in favor of developing cooperation in the agro-industrial sector, including seed selection and production and animal breeding. He also suggested Belarusian turnkey dairy farm projects to Karelia. Belarus is ready to cooperate in fish farming, adopt useful experience and buy fish for its processing plants.

The parties discussed the prospects for supplying forage harvesters, passenger transport, cargo, mining and special equipment to Karelia. The vice premier added that Belarus is able to implement turnkey residential construction projects in Karelia, including the construction of houses, schools, kindergartens and necessary infrastructure. He also offered cooperation in forestry and wood processing.

A number of documents were signed during the meeting on 12 December. They included a plan of action for 2019-2021 to implement the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in trade, economy, science and culture of 28 June 1999, and an agreement on cooperation between the Government of Karelia and Amkodor-Onego company.

As it was reported, in January-September 2018 the trade between Belarus and Karelia of the Russian Federation amounted to $19.9 million, up by 22.7% year-on-year.