MINSK, 20 November (BelTA) - The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) and the Industry and Trade Ministry of the Republic of Karelia, Russia signed a cooperation agreement on the sidelines of the business forum New opportunities for Karelia and the regions of Belarus held during the visit of Karelia’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Oleg Yermolaev to Minsk, BelTA has learned.
The parties intend to expand cooperation in exchange trade through a comprehensive approach to developing this area. This includes more active engagement with private business, organizing informational and training events, identifying promising commodity positions for export and import, and eliminating unjustified intermediaries.
“Support for exchange trade from the relevant ministry will undoubtedly serve as a powerful incentive for representatives of Karelia’s business community, who until now, for various reasons, have not used the exchange mechanism in their activities. Therefore, the first thing we expect from cooperation with Karelia’s Industry and Trade Ministry is a multiple increase in the number of trading participants from this region. At present, there are only 10, which is a serious limiting factor for further growth in mutual exchange trade. I am confident that together with our partner we will not only expand the pool of Karelia’s users of our electronic platform, but also introduce new commodity positions that will ensure positive dynamics in the volume and number of exchange transactions in the long term,” BUCE Chairman of the Board Aleksandr Osmolovsky said following the signing ceremony.
From the perspective of exchange trade geography, Karelia is a new direction for BUCE. The first exchange transaction involving companies from this region was concluded in May of this year, with the commodity range still quite narrow, including only wood products and specialized equipment for the forestry industry. In this regard, BUCE and Karelia’s Industry and Trade Ministry plan to give priority attention to diversifying the commodity structure of exchange transactions, both imports and exports.
In turn, Oleg Yermolaev noted that Karelia and Belarus have long been partners. The parties plan to sign a three-year cooperation plan that will include a number of new areas. “A large group of entrepreneurs is based in Belarus. We have a wide range of proposals for the Belarusian side. We are also interested in how the manufacturing industry and the social area are developing here,” he said.
The business forum was one of the key events of the visit. Its goal was to establish open dialogue between Karelian and Belarusian companies and to create a favorable environment for concluding and implementing new trade, economic, and investment deals. During the forum, the investment potential of the Republic of Karelia was presented, information was provided on the specifics of doing business in the Republic of Belarus, and a platform was organized for B2B negotiations.
The meeting was attended by more than 50 Karelian and Belarusian companies, as well as representatives of government bodies and business associations. Participants were informed about state support measures for business in Karelia and about tourism projects linked to the launch of direct flights between Minsk and Petrozavodsk. These flights are scheduled to operate once a week from May to September 2026. Tour operators are ready to develop special service packages for tourists from Belarus, tailored to the preferences and needs of visiting guests, and to improve booking systems and online services that facilitate ticket reservations and travel arrangements.
On the sidelines of the forum, an agreement was also signed between NPK Carbon-Shungit, a company engaged in the mining and processing of shungite in Karelia, and the Institute of Environmental Management of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The document provides for cooperation in research, design and development, innovation, and technology.
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