BREST, 26 April (BelTA) - Brest Oblast of Belarus and Russia's Bryansk Oblast intend to develop cooperation in housing and utilities and environment. Such arrangements were made during a visit of a Russian delegation to Brest Oblast, BelTA has learned.
Brest Oblast of Belarus and Russia's Bryansk Oblast are long-standing partners. In 2006 they signed a cooperation agreement. For example, last year the foreign trade between the regions amounted to more than $70 million, with a surplus for the Belarusian region. Brest Oblast exported dairy products, gravel, rubble, chipboards, silicates, gas stoves. Bryansk Oblast supplied canola seeds, soybeans, cement, paper and cardboard and other goods.
"The level of cooperation is quite high. We cooperate in some areas very closely. In others the potential is still untapped. We aim to develop mutually beneficial cooperation," said Dmitry Gorodetsky, deputy chairman of the Brest Oblast Executive Committee.
Bryansk Oblast Vice Governor Vladimir Reunov, the head of the Russian delegation, noted a special interest of the region in the best environmental practices and treatment of secondary material resources in Brest Oblast. “This is a very important task. It has been defined in Russia as a national goal until 2030. We are ready to cooperate in this area and expand economic cooperation between our regions," he said.
In particular, the guests will get familiar with the solid municipal waste treatment practices and the work of the Brest waste processing plant. According to Vladimir Reunov, Bryansk Oblast is planning to equip large landfills with waste-sorting stations, and to build a waste processing plant in the future.
Brest Oblast Vice Governor Vadim Olshevsky spoke about the new things in the recycling collection practices. By 2025, the region plans to establish four regional centers to sort and use secondary waste: in Brest, Baranovichi, Pinsk and Kobrin. The region plans to involve the existing infrastructure, to build new facilities and purchase equipment. Thus the recycling rate of municipal water will exceed 50% in the region. Now this figure stands 28%.
