BREST, 25 August (BelTA) - Foreign trade between Belarus' Brest Oblast and Russia increased by 22.4% in January-June of this year year-on-year, Brest Oblast Governor Yuri Shuleiko said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Belarus Boris Gryzlov in Brest on 25 August, BelTA has learned.
In H1 the trade between Brest Oblast and Russia exceeded $1.5 billion, exports surged by almost 20%. Brest Oblast trades with 76 regions of Russia. The region maintains the closest economic cooperation with Moscow, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Smolensk, Sverdlovsk, Kursk, Bryansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh and Leningrad regions. In January-June, Brest raised $45 million in direct investments from Russia.
"We have good relations with Russian regions, many cooperation agreements have been signed. For example, close contacts have been established with Penza Oblast. We are building our ties. Most likely, before the end of the year, our delegation will visit Irkutsk. We have agreed on the visit with the governor if the coronavirus does not intervene. In general, regions communicate closely and there is a result from this," said Yuri Shuleiko.
During the trip to Brest Oblast, Ambassador Boris Gryzlov visited Kobrin, toured the Suvorov Military History Museum. In Brest, the Russian ambassador got acquainted with the work of some enterprises. "Of the five enterprises I have visited, four are in the free economic zone. The conditions created there really attract capital. Businesses are highly intelligent. The products are in high demand in Russia. We discussed the possibilities of import substitution. There are positions that Russian enterprises could step in and help Belarusian producers," the diplomat said.
Ambassador Boris Gryzlov added that, judging by the trend, the trade between Belarus and Russia will continue to increase.
