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MINSK, 13 February (BelTA) - The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) held a business seminar to discuss the role of small and medium-sized businesses in promoting mutual exchange trade in products of agriculture, woodworking, metallurgical industry and petrochemicals between Belarus and Yaroslavl Oblast in Yaroslavl, Russia, BelTA learned from the BUCE press service.
The event was hosted by the Yaroslavl Oblast Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the support of the Yaroslavl Oblast Export Center. The seminar focused on the results of the work of Yaroslavl companies on the BUCE in 2024 and discussed ways to develop cooperation in the exchange trade in 2025. According to the participants of the event, the main task ahead of the Belarusian and Russian parties is to ensure an increase in such key indicators as the number of Yaroslavl companies accredited with the exchange, the amount of transactions conducted by them, and the number of commodity items involved in the exchange trade.
According to the BUCE, thanks to purchases of butter, cheese, and meat products, Yaroslavl Oblast ranked fifth among all Russian regions in terms of the volume of contracts concluded on the Belarusian exchange platform in 2024. In value terms, this amounted to over RUB 3 billion. In 2023, the mutual trade between Belarus and Yaroslavl Oblast totaled only about RUB 12 million.
In 2025, the BUCE plans to pay more attention to interaction with small and medium-sized businesses of the Russian region. Among them are quite a lot of export-oriented enterprises that are willing to promote their products in Belarus’ market and markets of other countries through the exchange. The Yaroslavl Oblast Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Yaroslavl Oblast Export Center are expected to assist in informing Yaroslavl enterprises about the possibilities of using exchange instruments and advise them on accreditation with the BUCE. In this regard, the business seminar held in Yaroslavl can be seen as the first joint project successfully implemented by the parties.
As of 1 February 2025, the BUCE accredited 32 economic entities of Yaroslavl Oblast, including eight companies entered the exchange in 2025.