Business news

MINSK, 6 July (BelTA) - Belarus and St. Petersburg should develop a set of measures to increase the mutual trade, Belarus’ First Deputy Prime Minister Vasily Matyushevsky said at the eighth meeting of the working group of the Belarus-St. Petersburg Business Cooperation Council which is hosted by the Baranovichi Cotton Production Amalgamation, BelTA has learned.

"We have seen a negative trend this year: in the first five months of this year the trade decreased by 25%. We need to think about the measures to make up for the drop and to increase the trade. The purpose of our meeting today is to analyze the reasons for the decline in the mutual trade and identify the specific package of measures to reverse this trend,” said Vasily Matyushevsky.

He stated that for Belarus St. Petersburg is one of the priority regional partners in Russia. "Your city is traditionally in top five trading partners of Belarus among Russian regions," he said.

Among the main areas of cooperation Vasily Matyushevsky identified the interaction between enterprises of Belarus and St. Petersburg, including the establishment of joint ventures. Belarus is also expected to take part in the targeted socio-economic programs in St. Petersburg, including the supply of necessary equipment with the use of financial instruments such as leasing and budget subsidies. In addition, according to the First Deputy Prime Minister, Belarus is interested in increasing its food supplies. "We are ready to cooperate with St. Petersburg companies under a series of agro-industrial projects in our country," he said.

Vasily Matyushevsky drew attention to cooperation in the construction industry. "Belarusian construction companies are ready to participate in the projects to build new homes and infrastructure facilities in St. Petersburg, and to ramp up supplies of building materials," he said. Sci-tech and interregional cooperation is also important. "Our agenda included the issue of holding the Days of Minsk in St. Petersburg, which we consider an important factor in enhancing our cooperation. We agreed to co-locate the next meeting of the Belarus and St. Petersburg Business Cooperation Council with the Days of Minsk in St. Petersburg,” Vasily Matyushevsky said.