News & Events in Belarus

GOMEL, 26 October (BelTA) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko outlined the most promising areas of cooperation between Belarus and Ukraine at the 1st Forum of Regions in Gomel on 26 October, BelTA has learned.

“Belarus is ready to share its best practices with Ukraine in upgrading its infrastructure, including the improvement of utility services, the renewal of the passenger and special-purpose transport fleet, and road construction, in all the areas where Ukraine needs help. The same I heard from my counterpart. We are ready to learn from you in the areas we are interested in,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

In his words, in Gomel Ukrainian partners can get familiar with the projects implemented by Belarusian specialists and cooperation prospects.

The president underlined that Belarus is ready, as before, for close cooperation with the Ukrainian mining and metallurgical industry. “It is an open secret that its fleet relies, in many ways, on reliable, time-tested BelAZ rock haulers. We need to continue strategic interaction in this industry,” the head of state noted.

Cooperation in transport logistics has a great potential, Alexander Lukashenko said. "More efficient use of our geographical advantages will contribute to the successful implementation of various projects within the multimodal transport corridor Baltic Sea-Black Sea,” he said.

The president emphasized the importance of engaging the railway component, river navigation and integrating the Ukrainian seaports into the logistics chains.

An impressive number of business entities are involved in trade and economic relations of the two countries. In Belarus, there are about 300 joint ventures with Ukrainian capital. In Ukraine, there are about 100 Belarus-funded enterprises.

“The total investment injected in the projects implemented by our country in Belarus and Ukraine exceeded $1.2 billion in 2017,” the head of state said. Last year, over 2,000 tractors, 90 combine harvesters and 500 elevators were manufactured at joint assembly plants in Ukraine, he added.

In turn, Belarus buys Ukraine’s metal, a wide range of components for the machine-building complex, agricultural raw materials and products for the animal husbandry and other sectors of agriculture and the food industry.

“Without the participation of regions, our cooperation projects would be deprived of practical meaning. We, however, can work not only for the markets of our states. Our economies are located in the heart of Europe, at the crossroads of major trade routes and are part of large-scale regional integration projects. We should focus on joint ventures to produce goods for third markets,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

Ukrainian business, the president believes, will be interested in such promising platforms as Belarus Hi-Technologies Park and the China-Belarus Industrial Park Great Stone. “Preferences and favorable investment climate in the context of these initiatives make it possible to implement large-scale projects in innovations,” the head of state said.

“Ukrainian farmers will sure be interested in Belarus’ grain deep processing capabilities to produce essential amino acids and high-tech fodder for livestock. This project, which provides for the construction of 14 plants, is being implemented in cooperation with our Chinese partners. It is on track to be complete by 2030 and foresees investments of more than $700 million,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

The president stressed that such projects can be many, and called on Ukrainian businessmen and industrialists to carefully evaluate the potential of cooperation with Belarus and its regions.