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1 Oct 2019

Trade between Belarus, Russia’s Tatarstan to equal at least $1bn in 2019

Trade between Belarus, Russia’s Tatarstan to equal at least $1bn in 2019
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MINSK, 1 October (BelTA) – Belarus-Tatarstan trade will total at least $1 billion in 2019, Belarus Deputy Prime Minister Igor Lyashenko said at a session of the working group on cooperation between Belarus and Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan hosted by the Belarusian state petrochemical concern Belneftekhim, BelTA has learned.

“Once we set a goal to reach $1 billion in trade. In 2017, we achieved this goal and in 2018 the trade came at $1.28 billion. According to analysts, this year the trade will go down in monetary terms due to a drop in prices for some products of the petrochemical industry. However, it will still remain at around $1 billion and the actual volume of supplies will not decrease,” Igor Lyashenko stressed.

According to him, Belarus and Tatarstan have a long history of fruitful cooperation. Tatarstan is one of Belarus’ main partners in strengthening ties and intensifying trade and economic cooperation.

Igor Lyashenko said that products of the Belarusian Industry Ministry make up almost 49% of Belarus’ export to Tatarstan, and the petrochemical industry accounts for most of the remaining share. At the session, the parties plan to sign cooperation agreements which will help enhance cooperation between the academies of sciences of Belarus and Tatarstan as well as between Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics and Kazan Federal University.

Igor Lyashenko reminded that presidents of Belarus and Russia are set to meet in December 2019 and asked to draft documents which may be signed during the meeting.

Tatarstan welcomes closer mutually beneficial relations with Belarus, Tatarstan Deputy Prime Minister, Tatarstan Minister of Industry and Trade Albert Karimov said. “We have a lot of areas of common interest and our goal is to work in these areas, support and develop them,” he stressed. “We are interested in intensifying trade and economic cooperation with Belarus and believe that it is a promising area thanks to our experience and achievements,” he added.

The main areas of Belarus-Tatarstan cooperation for 2020 include launching supplies of Belarusian buses, vehicles of the Amkodor trademark, and agricultural machinery to Tatarstan, implementing joint projects to produce passenger transport, tractors, engines, utilities and agricultural vehicles, increasing the volume and expanding the range of supplies of vehicle components and chemical products, and cooperating in science and education, including vocational education.

The Belneftekhim concern which hosted the session of the working group is responsible for developing cooperation with Tatarstan in line with the action plan on cooperation for 2017-2020 signed by the governments of Belarus and Tatarstan.

In January-July, Belarus-Tatarstan trade amounted to $635.5 million, decreasing 17.3% year-on-year. Belarus’ export totaled $158.5 million, 0.7% down, while import came at $477 million, 21.7% down. The Belneftekhim concern exports butylene-butadiene fraction, cord fabric, tires, paint products, and synthetic threads and imports oil, ethyleneglycol, synthetic rubbers, and carbon black. Export depends primarily on the price situation (drops in oil prices and export prices) and decreased production in Russia’s tire industry.

At the session, the parties signed several documents. Chairman of the Belneftekhim concern Andrei Rybakov and Albert Karimov also signed the protocol of the joint session of the working group on cooperation between enterprises and organizations of the petrochemical industries of Belarus and Tatarstan which includes agreements to step up cooperation.

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