MINSK, 31 October (BelTA) - Austria is ready to take part in Belarus' projects to put the Chernobyl-hit regions back into economic use. The matter and also other prospects for bilateral relations were discussed at a meeting between Chairman of the Council of the Republic Mikhail Myasnikovich and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Austria to Belarus Aloisia Worgetter on 31 October, BelTA learned from the press service of the upper house of the Belarusian parliament.
A recently-launched international project, featuring Belarus, Austria and Finland, aims at preventing wildfires in the Chernobyl-affected regions. It makes part of one of EU's large-scale programs. “I think we can implement more Chernobyl projects. This is of interest to Austria from the point of view of the ways to involve territories affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the economic use. The matter also concerns biomass production and its use for energy purposes,” Aloisia Worgetter said.
In general, the Austrian business shows great interest in Belarus' agriculture, the ambassador said. Austrian agricultural research institutes also state their readiness to develop partnerships with Belarusian scientific institutions in agro-industrial production.
The chairman of the Council of the Republic supported the two-country partnership on Chernobyl. He suggested supervising the project at the level of the Council of the Republic and the Austrian Embassy in Belarus. “These are the issues of monitoring, healthcare, science, and involvement of the contaminated territories in the economic use. Here we can talk not only about the production and use of biomass, but also about industrial crops. Let's take a look at how it can be done,” he said.
Mikhail Myasnikovich also suggested discussing ways to develop bilateral cooperation in cattle breeding. According to the speaker, Belarus and Austria show goods prospects for cooperation in general. He emphasized matters related to the development of regional ties.
Photos by Maksim Guchek
