Promising areas for cooperation between Belarus, Russia’s Rostov Oblast outlined
15:37, 17 November
Belarus and Russia's Rostov Oblast will step up cooperation in mechanical engineering, construction, and agriculture, governor of Russia’s Rostov Oblast Yury Slyusar told the media after a meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Minsk on 17 November, BelTA has learned.
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Outlining the prospects for cooperation between the Russian region and Belarus, the governor named three key areas. The first is mechanical engineering. He stated that Rostov Oblast plans to purchase up to 1,000 buses and electric buses by 2030. In this regard, a key item on the delegation's visit itinerary is touring enterprises such as MTZ and MAZ.
“We very much hope that we can renew our fleet based on MAZ vehicles,” Yury Slyusar emphasized.
The governor of Rostov Oblast recalled that a multi-brand center for Belarusian machinery is under construction in the region. Furthermore, he pointed out the competitive leasing rates. “And, of course, this is the high quality of Belarusian products, including in mechanical engineering,” Yury Slyusar added.
Speaking about mechanical engineering, the governor emphasized that it cannot be developed without domestic machine tool building. “The large-scale program to renew the machine tool fleet at all enterprises provides work not only for Russian machine tool enterprises but also for Belarusian ones. The enterprises, the people, and the expertise remain here," he noted. “Of course, we must not replace one dependency with another – to abandon Western goods and technologies and completely 'switch over' to Chinese goods and technologies. This would hardly align with the objectives of technological sovereignty for both Russia and Belarus. Machine tool building is one of the key important aspects here.”
The second area is the construction sector. The governor emphasized that Belarusian construction companies have experience working in Russia across various fields, including the construction of social infrastructure: “These are schools, hospitals, and kindergartens. We would very much like to try working with Belarusian companies and see to what extent we can achieve the results we need as the customer in this situation.”
The third area of cooperation between Belarus and Rostov Oblast is agriculture. The discussion specifically touched upon a network of stores selling Belarusian agricultural products.
Journalists noted that the Be-200 amphibious aircraft is produced in Rostov Oblast. In this regard, the head of the region was asked if Belarusian specialists are involved in this project. “They are already involved. Baranovichi aviation plant is participating. At one time, a workshop was even built there and equipment was brought in,” he replied. Yury Slyusar called the Be-200 a promising project and noted that it is now being fitted with domestically produced engines. “I hope that starting from 2028-2029, we will produce several units, including in cooperation with enterprises of the Belarusian aviation industry," he added.
