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MINSK, 11 October (BelTA) – Belarus is interested in advancing cooperation with Tula Oblast in the sphere of civil engineering and manufacturing. These matters were discussed during the session of the joint working group on cooperation between Belarus and Russia’s Tula Oblast at premises of the Belarusian state light industry concern Bellegprom on 11 October, BelTA has learned.

Nikolai Yefimchik, Bellegprom Chairman, Belarusian co-chairman of the working group, said: “We work according to the plans. We honor all our commitments. We hope to increase the trade volume by the end of the year up to about $300 million. There are interesting proposals on advancing cooperation in the sphere of civil engineering. We should also talk about the possibility of selling electric buses made by Belkommunmash to Tula Oblast. We should also revive our traditions like arranging school bazaars to sell Belarusian products in Tula Oblast. There are proposals concerning cooperation between our museums, proposals on education programs.”

Grigory Lavrukhin, Tula Oblast Deputy Prime Minister, Economic Development Minister, noted that the Russian region and Belarus have a great potential for advancing cooperation. “We have produced results in all spheres. We can take cooperation in various areas to the next level. Cooperation in agriculture and manufacturing is a very important area for us. We can also talk about cooperation not only in trade but also manufacturing cooperation, tourism, culture, and science,” he added.

Cheslav Shulga, head of the Smolensk branch of the Embassy of Belarus in Russia, drew attention to the high level of cooperation between Belarus and Tula Oblast in the sphere of light industry. “Simple trade, joint production, fairs and bazaars – Bellegprom explores all kinds of cooperation options,” he noted. “We should find areas of cooperation we can take to the next level. We have room for growth. We can find new growth points. Belarus has very interesting experience of cooperation with Kaluga Oblast and Lipetsk Oblast. Maybe we should use the same approach in cooperation with Tula Oblast.” Belarusian civil engineering companies work hard in Kaluga Oblast. A Belarusian city block was commissioned in Obninsk in 2018. Belarus’ cooperation with Lipetsk in road construction develops well.

A number of Belarusian lifts have been sold to Tula Oblast this year. Belarus is ready to sell more of them to the region and is also interested in more vigorous cooperation in selling MAZ buses.

Bellegprom Chairman Nikolai Yefimchik and Tula Oblast Governor Aleksei Dyumin are expected to sign the protocol of the session of the joint group on cooperation between Belarus and Russia’s Tula Oblast during the fifth Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia in Mogilev on 12 October.