Governor of Russia's Krasnodar Territory satisfied with relations with Belarus

Veniamin Kondratyev said: “Relations between Krasnodar Territory and Belarus reached brand new heights in the last 1.5 years. We do have something to talk about. In 2022 trade turnover increased by 52% and exceeded RUB40 billion. It has been growing this year, too. Certainly, we should expand this cooperation. And not only within the framework of manufacturing cooperation, which is important today.”

Since Krasnodar Territory is an important agrarian region of the Russian Federation, the sides are considering sales and the organization of assembly of various Belarusian machines and vehicles such as tractors, harvesters, grain carriers, and so on. “Thanks to partnership with MTZ, Gomselmash, and MAZ we are confident that Krasnodar Territory's high-tech agribusiness will stay high-tech,” Veniamin Kondratyev stressed. “It is the joint potential that we already realize. These are not plans but concrete realization.”

An agreement on further cooperation in seed selection has also been reached with Belarusian scientists.

The sides are also expanding cooperation in civil engineering. “Belarusian construction workers have already started designing and will very soon begin building a school in Krasnodar, the capital city of Krasnodar Territory. We've agreed that a delegation will come from Belarus and will take a look at opportunities for expanding cooperation in the sphere of civil engineering. These are not only schools, but other social facilities, sport complexes. A residential microdistrict can also be built within the framework of comprehensive real estate development efforts,” the head of the Krasnodar Territory administration said.

The governor said that the region buys buses from Belarusian MAZ. Those are models that use gas engine fuel and have a lower environmental impact. “We say that Russia's south is an ecological region. Public transport powered by conventional fuel may be a thing of the past in some places. But we talk about tomorrow instead of today. I am convinced that we are going to replace public transport vehicles in an evolutionary manner as much as possible. Including with the buses Belarus makes,” Veniamin Kondratyev said.

He also emphasized interest in electrobuses. They were one of the things discussed during the meeting with the Belarusian head of state. “The president and I have discussed the overall possibility of transition of the mass transit system in Sochi as a pilot project. Because Sochi is a crown jewel of Russia. We will now make calculations to understand things. We may even use electric vehicles for public transportation instead of gas engine fuel ones then. These are the new horizons that we have to reach for,” the governor said.

Veniamin Kondratyev noted that when he was talking about the bilateral relations reaching new heights, he primarily referred to trade and economic cooperation. “Relations between Krasnodar Territory and Belarus primarily rely on friendship, mutual respect, and our common history. Certainly, today we have to preserve all of it and multiply it. Mutually beneficial cooperation is the most important thing that we've talked about today,” he said. “Certainly, we say that we need to cooperate in culture and tourism. It is another important component of harmonious relations between Krasnodar Territory and Belarus.”