MINSK, 15 November (BelTA) – Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko outlined the prospects for cooperation between Belarus and Russia's Chelyabinsk Oblast during a meeting with Governor of the Russian region Aleksei Teksler in Minsk on 15 November, BelTA has learned.
"We traditionally pay great attention to cooperation with the subjects of the Russian Federation. Such meetings give us a chance to compare notes, clarify each other's needs in a dynamically changing environment. In 2022, we received 20 delegations led by the governors of the regions of Russia, and 21 delegations led by vice governors," Roman Golovchenko said.
According to him, Chelyabinsk Oblast is an important partner for Belarus. "In previous years, we had a very good dynamics of trade turnover. In 2021, trade surged by more than 40%. In January-September of this year it went up by another 20%. We have surpassed our average trade figures and have already reached about $380 million in trade, which is really a good result," the prime minister said.
As the head of government noted, trade is growing both ways. Both the supply of Belarusian goods to this region and the supply of products from Chelyabinsk to Belarus are on the rise. "Trade is balanced. We traditionally import metal and industrial equipment. In turn, Chelyabinsk Oblast buys Belarusian machinery, equipment, food products, and chemical industry goods," he said.
In addition, Roman Golovchenko outlined promising areas of cooperation between Belarus and Chelyabinsk Oblast. First, it is industrial cooperation. "The region is a large industrial and technological hub. In particular, we have good projects to manufacture special equipment based on the chassis of Belarusian manufacturers at Chelyabinsk machine-building plants. A number of machine-building enterprises of Chelyabinsk Oblast work with the Minsk Motor Plant and use its engines in the manufacture of their products. We need to support and develop such projects," he added.
Secondly, it is cooperation in agriculture. "Despite the fact that the region is a large industrial hub, regional agriculture also has very serious prospects. 2022 was a good year for Chelyabinsk farmers, who collected one of their record high harvests. We need to strengthen cooperation in the agricultural sector in such areas as the supply of modern farm machines and veterinary drugs from Belarus. We can also offer our technologies, experience and services for the construction of modern dairy complexes," the Prime Minister said.
Another promising area is cooperation in the construction sector. "Belarusian construction organizations are successfully working in a number of regions of Russia: Kaluga, Voronezh, Leningrad, Kaliningrad, Bryansk. They are working on the housing projects and on also infrastructure and social facilities," Roman Golovchenko said.
