MINSK, 23 December (BelTA) - The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) hopes to expand cooperation with Russia's Smolensk Oblast. The matter was discussed during the BUCE's pilot webinar for companies of the Russian region, BelTA learned from BUCE's press service.
The webinar covered the whole range of issues related to the use of the BUCE trading platforms for Smolensk companies to enter the Belarusian market, including through participation in public procurement procedures. “Smolensk Oblast is a priority for us in terms developing exchange trade with the Russian Federation. Today about 400 Smolensk companies are accredited on the exchange - more than from any other region of Russia. Many of them regularly participate in both import and export trading,” said Andrei Novikov, the First Deputy Chairman of the BUCE Board.
According to him, a large number of companies of Smolensk Oblast accredited at the exchange offers great opportunities for increasing the volume of concluded transactions. “At the same time I think that Smolensk enterprises have not yet fully realized the potential of the exchange mechanism. Among the promising areas are sales of Russian wood raw materials, grain crops, fodder additives, ferrous rolled metal products, as well as purchases of Belarusian meat and dairy products and construction materials. These commodity positions can become the basis for long-term mutually beneficial cooperation,” Andrei Novikov emphasized.
Maksim Astapenkov, the General Director of the Export Support Center of Smolensk Oblast, expressed his readiness to assist BUCE in informing the business community of the Russian region about the advantages of the Belarusian exchange platform and urged the webinar participants to use this tool as an additional sales and procurement channel. “In my opinion, the exchange trading is interesting, promising and, what is important, requires practically no financial investment. That is why I definitely recommend all Smolensk entrepreneurs to register their company on the exchange and try to trade. For our part, we are ready to provide necessary information support,” he said.
Founded in 2004, the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange conducted its first trading session in June 2005. BUCE is one of the largest commodity exchanges in Eastern Europe. Its main function is to assist Belarusian enterprises with export and foreign companies with entering the Belarusian market. BUCE sells a wide range of metal, forestry, and agricultural products, industrial and consumer goods.
