NUCLEAR POWER IN BELARUS AND WORLDWIDE
MINSK, 17 January (BelTA) – Following the talks with Moscow Oblast Governor Andrei Vorobyov Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Russia Dmitry Krutoi explained to BelTA why Moscow Oblast has become the leader among Russian regions in terms of trade with Belarus.
“Moscow Oblast is far ahead of other Russian regions when it comes to trade with Belarus,” Dmitry Krutoi stated. “Therefore, it is very symbolic that my first visit this year was to Moscow Oblast. We discussed all aspects of our cooperation with Governor Andrei Vorobyov. He remarked that 4-5 years ago our trade stood at $5-6 billion, while now it is estimated at $9.5 billion. The nearly twofold growth is due to a new geopolitical environment, the redirection of Belarusian exports away from other markets to Russia, specifically to Moscow Oblast. According to our estimates, our trade might exceed $10 billion by the end of 2023. Our trade is a two-way street, as not only Belarusian exports to Moscow Oblast are on the rise, but also the exports from Moscow Oblast to Belarus,” he said.
“Journalists and governors often ask why our trade with Moscow Oblast is so big. The first thing that everyone thinks of is that Moscow Oblast is a kind of hub where Belarusian goods are accumulated to be later distributed among other Russian regions. However, responding to such assumptions the governor rightly suggests that other governors create a similar hub in their regions. In this regard, Moscow Oblast is unique, and its economic strategy is unique in a certain way. Last year alone, it commissioned 101 world-class warehouses. One of such large warehouses is used purely by manufacturers of medicines and medical equipment, there are no other goods there, it is a warehouse is name, but in fact it is much more than that. And when such amazing conditions are offered in terms of premises, logistics, taxes and other things, of course, Belarusian manufacturers cannot miss these opportunities. This is one of the reasons,” the ambassador said.
“The second reason that I see is that Moscow Oblast has about 50 sister city agreements with Belarus. No other Russian region has such a big number of sister city agreements with our country,” Dmitry Krutoi emphasized. “Moreover, many agreements were signed more than 10 years ago. I believe this unique interaction at the local level should be scaled up in other regions as an example. Hundreds of Belarusian SMEs operate in these small towns and small communities. Unfortunately, not all of them hit our radar. Of course, we will support this kind of thing,” he said.
