MINSK, 2 June (BelTA) – Russia's Leningrad Oblast expects to increase trade with Belarus by almost a third this year, Governor of Russia's Leningrad Oblast Alexander Drozdenko told the media after a meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Minsk on 2 June, BelTA has learned.
"During previous visits, we talked about the cooperation and its development within the framework of current projects. Today's visit is different. We talked about new opportunities that have opened up for cooperation in Russia, Belarus, Leningrad Oblast," he said. “Trade has been growing. Last year it was a record high of more than $700 million. This year we expect it to increase by at least a third."
Plans are in place to launch new projects. These include the joint venture Amkodor in the city of Gatchina, the use by Belarus of the facilities in the Ust-Luga and Bronka ports. "We need a number of vehicles, machinery, technologies," the governor said. As an example, he cited big purchases of elevators produced by Mogilevliftmash and Belarusian water treatment plants.
Joint development of new technologies and R&D, for example, in the production of tapered bearing units was also discussed. "Today Belarus is a little ahead of us. Therefore, we should not reinvent the wheel but concentrate in one place, on one base," he said. "We must tap into these opportunities as much as possible."
