Opinions & Interviews

VOLOGDA, 13 October (BelTA) – Advancing manufacturing cooperation ties with Belarus is a matter of strategic importance for Vologda Oblast, BelTA learned from Vologda Oblast Governor Oleg Kuvshinnikov.

“We are connected by long-time ties with Belarus. We are great friends. Advancing manufacturing cooperation ties with Belarus is our strategy,” said Oleg Kuvshinnikov.

The official reminded that the project to make MTZ tractors had been launched in Cherepovets four years before. Now Cherepovets Casting and Mechanical Plant accounts for one in three of the wheeled tractors made in Russia. A conveyor line for manufacturing MTZ tractors with the engine output of over 120hp was commissioned in Cherepovets the day before. The Vologda Oblast governor is convinced that the assembly line will allow increasing the output of Belarusian tractors even more. “With support of the Belarusian tractor manufacturer MTZ we hope to become Russia’s largest tractor maker,” stressed the governor.

According to Oleg Kuvshinnikov, a Belarusian-Russian mechanical engineering cluster is being created with Cherepovets Casting and Mechanical Plant at its core. Apart from tractors the cluster will make prime movers, loaders, and mounted equipment. The governor said that negotiations with Minsk Motor Plant are in progress to discuss the possible localization of engine manufacturing in Cherepovets.

Speaking about bilateral cooperation as a whole, Oleg Kuvshinnikov noted that Belarus is one of Vologda Oblast’s top three foreign trade partners. The local residents are pleased with Belarusian food while there is a permanently open Belarusian fair in the oblast capital.

“Increasing the bilateral trade is what the presidents of Belarus and Russia want us to accomplish. We’ve been up to the task so far,” concluded the Vologda Oblast governor.

Belarusian and Russian reporters met with the governor as part of the media tour meant to highlight Vologda Oblast as the largest Belarusian-Russian mechanical engineering cluster. The media tour had been organized by the Standing Committee of the Union State of Belarus and Russia and the international news agency Russia Today (RT).