MINSK, 1 April (BelTA) - Penza Oblast of Russia offers Belarus cooperation in biotechnology, agriculture, machinery supplies, and also in the implementation of cultural projects, Governor of Russia’s Penza Oblast Oleg Melnichenko told the media after his meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Minsk on 1 April, BelTA has learned.
According to the governor, thanks to cooperation with Belarus, Penza Oblast has significantly upgraded its public transport, in particular the fleet of trolleybuses. The Russian region also buys farming, utilities and road construction machinery.
“Penza Oblast is the largest producer of turkey meat in Europe. Turkeys need to be fed. It needs mixed fodder. Any mixed fodder contains lysine [an amino acid]. We do not produce lysine. We have an interesting project envisaging the purchase of lysine from Belarus to ensure our own production of high-quality mixed fodder,” the governor of the Russian region said.
Penza Oblast is ready to offer its products and share experience in medical technologies. “The region has well-developed industry and agriculture. This means good biotechnology. It is 70% of the Russian Federation market for the production of heart valves, including instruments for minimally invasive surgeries, surgical sutures. These are materials necessary for rapid healing of surgical wounds and recovery. We are ready to share this knowledge and cooperate in this area,” said Oleg Melnichenko.
Another promising area is related to agricultural machinery and import substitution. For example, Penza Oblast is a major producer of sugar. The governor mentioned the region’s needs in agricultural machinery to operate in this area, since all the farming machines, the region currently use, are of foreign manufacture. “Here, Belarus has a huge potential in agricultural engineering,” he said.
There are a lot of cultural projects as well. On 1-7 April, Belarus will be hosting the Days of Penza Oblast for the first time. The number of events will be held in Minsk, Mogilev and Brest. “The program will comprise our exhibitions, concerts, meetings. It is going to be an action-packed week. The task is to deepen economic ties, cooperation between our economic entities, interaction between young people,” Oleg Melnichenko revealed details about the upcoming events.
The Russian region brought a joint production, The Order to Live!, to Belarus to mark the 80th anniversary of the Victory Day. It is dedicated to Aleksei Chertkov, who commanded a partisan detachment in Belarus during the Great Patriotic War. This partisan detachment helped save a number of Belarusian villages from complete destruction.
Oleg Melnichenko spoke about some details of the film. It was made both in Penza Oblast and in Belarus. The film features non-professional actors. “The movie is interesting, captivating, despite the fact that it features non-professional actors. This is our joint Victory, something that inextricably binds us to each other. I think this is the main holiday in the calendar of events,” the governor said.
Trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and Penza Oblast is on the rise - the trade has been steadily growing in recent years. In 2020 it approximated $82 million, while in 2021 it exceeded $103 million, and in 2024 it amounted to $152 million, up 10% over 2023. Belarusian exports to the Russian region exceeded $91 million last year. The key exports were butter, cottage cheese and cheeses, wood-fiber boards, non-alloy steel rods, parts for internal combustion engines, washing machines, and plastic containers.
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