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Golovchenko, China’s CITIC Construction discuss big projects in Belarus

MINSK, 3 November (BelTA) – Belarus’ Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko and top executives of the Chinese company CITIC Construction have discussed implementation of large-scale investment projects in Belarus, BelTA has learned.

“Cooperation with CITIC Construction began in 2007 and has been gaining momentum ever since. It was one of the first engineering companies to start operations in Belarus. The company is running three major investment projects in the country. CITIC Construction acted not only as a general contractor, but also became a co-investor in Belgee,” Roman Golovchenko said at the meeting with Deputy President of CITIC Construction Yang Jianqiang.

The meeting focused on promising projects the company is running and plans to run in Belarus. They include the Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation (BNBC) that is building a full-cycle high-tech agro-industrial production facility near Minsk, as well as the creation of a new complex of nitrogen fertilizers and other projects.

“We want to finalize the agreements and outline a clear-cut plan of work on these projects. We are ready for a substantive conversation. The implementation of pilot projects has a commercial component and will also serve to strengthen Belarus-China cooperation. Of course, projects of such a scale are implemented with government support. Not only commercial companies are involved, but also government agencies, credit and financial institutions,” the prime minister emphasized.

For his part, Yang Jianqiang noted that the BNBC project provides for the production of feed, amino acids. In the pipeline is the so-called BNBC-3 promising project to make vitamins, amino acids, starch and glucose products. This project will make it possible to launch the production of vitamins (B2, B12, C) and new types of amino acids (valine, leucine, isoleucine), which will be a brand new thing for Belarus and the CIS countries

"We have already done a lot. The fodder production is already up and running. As for the amino acid production, we already manufacture lysine and are planning to launch the production of threonine and tryptophan in December of this year," Yang Jianqiang said.

Roman Golovchenko stressed that the most important thing is to reach the design capacity and also to ensure the commercial sustainability of the project. "It is important that the project generates enough financial flows to service the loans extended for the project. It is necessary to ensure the current cost recovery," he believes.

An investment project to build the nitrogen complex was also discussed at the meeting. "This project is very important for our country. We would like it to be one of the world’s most advanced nitrogen complexes thanks to the latest technologies and competitive cost of the project as a whole. We want it up and running in 2025," the head of government said. 

In turn, the Chinese partner reaffirmed his commitment to implementing the project.

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