MINSK, 18 March (BelTA) – Import substitution and manufacturing cooperation projects will get soft financing. Director of the Entrepreneurship Department of the Belarusian Economy Ministry Olga Rusinovich mentioned it during a trip to Gomel Oblast, BelTA has learned.
Representatives of the Economy Ministry continue a series of business trips to get small and medium private enterprises involved in import substitution programs. With this in mind top officials of the Entrepreneurship Department, the Belarusian Fund for Financial Support of Entrepreneurship, and the SME Support Office of the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus have visited Gomel and Dobrush. Matters concerning the participation of small manufacturers in import substitution programs and the barriers that impede the process were discussed during meetings with representatives of the private sector. Representatives of municipal authorities and parliamentarians also took part in the meetings.
Olga Rusinovich said that the current situation opens up broad prospects for exploring the now vacant market niches inside the country and for increasing export shipments to the Russian Federation. The available list of imported raw materials, materials, and components represents an important reserve that has to be promptly used right now. This is why it has been decided that the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus should offer soft financing to import substitution and manufacturing cooperation projects.
The guaranteed signing of sale contracts with a major enterprise was one of the most important issues raised during the meeting. According to entrepreneurs, the preparations they do to get included into a manufacturing cooperation chain do not always end productively. Chairman of the Belarusian Fund for Financial Support of Entrepreneurship Piotr Arushanyants promised assistance with resolving the problem. Specialists of the fund will oversee negotiations and will control adherence to financial discipline by large enterprises.
