MINSK, 12 February (BelTA) – Last year, Russia ranked first in terms of the amount of transactions made on the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE), Chairman of the Board of the BUCE Aleksandr Osmolovsky told BelTA.
According to him, in 2023 Russian traders concluded more than 7,500 exchange transactions worth about $300 million. “This is up by 63% year-on-year. Imports of Russian goods increased by 11%, up to $165 million, while exports of Belarusian goods - by almost 5 times, up to $131 million,” he said.
According to Aleksandr Osmolovsky, the arrival of new companies to the exchange has contributed to the positive dynamics. “Last year, Russia ranked first in terms of the amount of transactions among all the countries represented at BUCE, providing more than a half of the exchange's foreign trade turnover. Moreover, Russia topped the list of the three largest markets for Belarusian goods. Russia also leads in the number of companies accredited at the exchange. Their share in the total number of foreign traders is more than 50%. Now companies from 52 Russian regions have been accredited at the exchange. This is 11 more than at the beginning of 2023,” the BUCE head added.
Aleksandr Osmolovsky recalled that Belarus and Russia are in the process of discussing the formation of a common exchange market of the Union State. According to him, it will improve business efficiency, stimulate exchange trading and give an impetus to the economic development of the two countries.
“The integration of the exchange commodity markets is another step towards deeper integration of the Russian and Belarusian economies. This will contribute to the growth of mutual trade and ensure equal business conditions for Russian and Belarusian companies,” he said. According to the BUCE head, eliminating barriers and drawing up common rules of competition are the basic conditions for the formation of a common commodity market of Belarus and Russia.
“Developing the Union State's common exchange market can serve as a model for the cooperation within the EAEU. The EAEU common exchange market will drive forward the development of the national exchanges of the EAEU member states and will provide businesses with an opportunity to expand their markets. Economic entities will have access to goods, the prices for which will be formed on a competitive basis,” Aleksandr Osmolovsky added.
