MOSCOW, 19 September (BelTA) – Novosibirsk intends to tackle traffic congestion with the help of Belarusian buses, trolleybuses, and trams. This matter was in focus of meetings between the city administration and a Belarusian delegation led by Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Semashko on 19 September, BelTA learned from the Belarusian embassy in Russia.
The Belarusian delegation met with Novosibirsk Oblast Governor Andrei Travnikov to discuss ways to enhance economic cooperation. “Novosibirsk and the oblast are among Belarus' main partners within the framework of the EAEU and the Union State of Belarus and Russia,” Vladimir Semashko said. “Our trade nears $400 million, but this is not the limit, we have a lot of unexplored areas of cooperation. We are also interested in solutions and technologies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences,” he added.
At a meeting with Novosibirsk Mayor Anatoly Lokot, Vladimir Semashko spoke about boosting cooperation in the field of supplies of public transport, utility vehicles and technologies for public utilities services, in particular, technologies for water and wastewater purification, waste collection and disposal. The ambassador described the Belarusian automobile industry and stressed that it is ready to supply Novosibirsk with all types of public transport and a whole range of utility vehicles to clean streets, pavements, and territories adjacent to buildings. Belarusian enterprises are ready to test its buses running on compressed natural gas and trolleybuses with dynamic charging in Novosibirsk.
“Transport is a grave problem for our city today. This is one of priority areas of Novosibirsk's development,” Anatoly Lokot said. “The city is stuck in traffic jams and even smart traffic management systems fail to solve this problem. This is why we aim to encourage local residents to use public transport more and need to expand the city's public transport fleet with new buses, trolleybuses with autonomous motion, and trams,” he noted.
The parties agreed to continue implementing the program to upgrade tram cars at the joint Russia-Belarus enterprise BMK Sibir with the use of knock-down kits of tram cars produced by the Belarusian mechanical engineering company Belkommunmash and to set up a joint venture to make electric buses.
“In September, after a year-long break, Novosibirsk will once again host a trade fair of Belarusian products which is very popular among local residents,” the press service noted.
