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Belarus seeks closer cooperation with Serbia via commodity exchange

BUCE photo

 MINSK, 13 July (BelTA) – Belarus is aiming to strengthen its cooperation with Serbia in exchange trade, the press service of the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) told BelTA.

“Increasing the number of trading participants and expanding the range of goods will help unlock hidden reserves and elevate Belarus-Serbia exchange cooperation to a brand new level. However, this will require closer engagement with Serbian business circles, from large enterprises to small businesses, that will regularly use the exchange mechanism in trade with Belarusian partners,” Chairman of the Board of BUCE Aleksandr Osmolovsky said during the 12th session of the Belarusian-Serbian intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation held in Belgrade.

Last year, exchange transactions accounted for approximately 4% of the total trade between Belarus and Serbia. “On the one hand, this figure reflects the demand for our platform as a tool for cross-border trade; on the other, it highlights the untapped potential of Belarus-Serbia cooperation in the exchange sector. I am confident that even two or three new product categories could significantly boost the volume of exchange trade between our countries. Moreover, we are ready to intensify cooperation in both imports and exports. The key is to ensure that Serbian companies consistently submit buy and sell orders during exchange trading,” Aleksandr Osmolovsky remarked.

In 2024, the value of transactions involving Serbian participants increased 37-fold to $4.1 million. In H1 2025, exchange trade between Belarus and Serbia reached $3.7 million. This year, dry milk and butter were supplied to the Serbian market, while herbicides and beet seeds were delivered to Belarus.

According to the BUCE chairman, a further boost to bilateral exchange trade could be achieved by accrediting a Serbian-resident exchange broker, who would attract Serbian companies to the Belarusian trading platform and assist them in concluding deals.

“We use this model with a number of countries, and it has yielded strong results in terms of trade growth and participant numbers. We expect similarly positive dynamics with Serbia,” Aleksandr Osmolovsky added.

As of 11 July, nine Serbian residents have been accredited at BUCE, including two new ones who joined the exchange in 2025.

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