Ambassador: Minsk maintains very intensive contacts with Russian regions

The intensity of cooperation between Minsk and Russian regions is very high, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Russian Federation Dmitry Krutoi told reporters during the presentation of the Minsk exposition at the Belarusian pavilion at VDNKh in Moscow on 13 June, BelTA has learned.

“In the first four months, the overall trade between Belarus and Russia went up by seven percentage points, while the trade between Minsk and Russian regions grew more significantly. Minsk accounts for 82% of Belarus’ trade with Russia; while Russia accounts for 62% of Belarus’ foreign trade. Thus, Minsk is ahead of other Belarusian regions in terms of trade with Russia,” noted Dmitry Krutoi. “We are going to address this disproportion and want our other regions to catch up. Our industry flagships like MTZ, MAZ contribute significantly to Minsk’s trade with Russia as they supply their products directly and run joint projects with Russian partners. Another important contributor is the confectionery industry. This year, manufacturers of household appliances are reclaiming their market share, too. As far as the service sector is concerned, Minsk IT companies have posted an increase of almost 20% in services they provide in Russia. Horizont and Integral have grown their sales by 20 to 40%. The civil aircraft industry [of Russia] has increased the use of electronic components, microcircuits, and chips made by Minsk factories,” the ambassador informed.

The intensity of cooperation is very high, the ambassador emphasized. “Minsk has about 70 agreements with Russian regions and the largest number of sister city agreements with big Russian cities, i.e. the intensity of inter-regional contacts is high. Therefore, Minsk is the driver of cooperation with Russia, we will continue to support this trend in every possible way,” he added.

The Belarusian capital will wrap up the marathon of Days of Belarusian Regions at the Russian Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy VDNKh. The exposition of Minsk will be running till 28 June. Visitors to the pavilion of the Republic of Belarus can study economic, industrial, cultural and tourist potential of Belarus’ capital city. On 13 June the Belarusian light industry concern Bellegprom ran a fashion show featuring items made by its enterprises, including merchandise of everyone’s favorite brand Pervy.