Belarus' ambassador outlines cooperation areas with Russia's Penza Oblast

The visit comprised a meeting of the working group on cooperation between Belarus and Penza Oblast, which is headed by Brest Oblast Governor Chairman Yuri Shuleiko on Belarus' behalf. The parties noted that over the past year Belarus and Penza Oblast had been showing growth in mutual trade, but it was based on the low base of mutual trade in previous years. Therefore, the parties are considering the possibility of new cooperation projects.

Today the parties can, in fact, boast only one cooperation project: the Penza company is engaged in the production of tank trucks for petrochemical enterprises on the basis of MAZ chassis. “We also plan to expand it. A new sector is machine-tool building, where the parties have signed an intergovernmental agreement and set a task to find specific projects in Belarus and Russia. The list of enterprises is clear, but mutual supplies of components, as the Union State final product is of paramount importance today. That is why we plan to work on the topic of machine-tool construction with Penza Oblast, because here there is a corresponding cluster, supported by the governor and developing under his patronage,” Dmitry Krutoi said.

The experience of Penza Oblast in import substitution is also of big interest. “Unlike other Russian regions, here there is a specific list approved by the governor: it contains more than 6,000 items, with 27 enterprises of the region involved. Our task is to find partners in Belarus. For this purpose we will use the tools of the chambers of commerce and industry, our universal commodity exchange and our Development Bank,” the ambassador explained.

According to him, cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector is not sufficient, although Penza Oblast has enterprises that are among the 10 largest in Russia. During the visit, Penza Oblast Governor Oleg Melnichenko invited Belarusian pharmaceutical companies to cooperate in the segment of drugs and the development of high-tech medical devices.

The ambassador added that Belarus and Penza Oblast have good prospects for cooperation in woodworking, pulp and paper industry, the agro-industrial complex, including the development of the Union State modern beet harvester.

Dmitry Krutoi also visited the Damate group of companies, which is Russia's top turkey producer and ranks fifth worldwide in terms of output. The parties agreed to establish contacts with the Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation: Penza producers showed interest in BNBC products.