From cooperation to import substitution. A delegation of the Belarusian government led by Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko will visit three Russian regions in three days: Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and Sverdlovsk. The working visit began today. The delegation has already arrived to Novosibirsk. Novosibirsk is Russia's third largest city in terms of population and the largest in Siberia. Direct links between Belarus and the regions of its neighboring country are the basis for bilateral trade and economic cooperation. Negotiations with governors and visits to a number of enterprises working closely with Belarusian companies are planned. These are machinery and microelectronics industries. Now a fair of Belarusian goods and the days of Minsk are held in Novosibirsk. There is a significant turnover in foodstuffs. Last year it was almost $85 million. It is twice as much as in 2021. And the export-import is divided equally.
Alla Lomakina, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food of Belarus:
This year we're already, actually, going with almost double the growth. So it indicates that the Belarusian products are still in demand in the region. Tomorrow there will be a fair, including our agricultural products and those of our processing enterprises. Apart from selling our basic foodstuffs, we will try to localize here the production of equipment for dairy complexes.
The main negotiations will start tomorrow. The Belarusian delegation includes heads of major Belarusian companies, and new contracts are expected to be signed as a result of the negotiations.
