Cooperation projects and economic clusters will help Vitebsk region strengthen Belarusian-Russian cooperation
It is necessary to transform the accumulated experience of mutual work into the implementation of bilateral cooperation projects.
According to the results of 2017, the trade turnover of enterprises of the Vitebsk region with Russia amounted to about 2.9 million dollars and increased by approximately 10% compared to 2016, and this is a diversified growth, including a wide range of mutual product supplies.
Partnership with the Moscow, Leningrad, Smolensk, Ryazan, Pskov, and Sverdlovsk regions is developing most dynamically. The executive committee has cooperation agreements with 24 regions of Russia.
As reported by Konstantin Chyorny, Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Economy of the Executive Committee, opportunities for signing relevant documents with the Kaliningrad region and Krasnodar Krai are currently being worked out. A plan of measures for trade, economic, scientific, technical, and humanitarian cooperation is being prepared to intensify interaction with Stavropol.
New partners for the Vitebsk region may appear at the V Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia. It is scheduled to be held in Mogilev in September 2018.
This approach serves as a good support, including for organizing business visits of industrialists to Russian regions. In the last two years alone, their number has exceeded a dozen.
In a number of cases, the delegations were headed by Nikolai Sherstnev, Chairman of the Executive Committee, and his First Deputy Oleg Matskevich.
Thus, recently a Vitebsk delegation returned from Kaliningrad, and business missions to the southern Russian regions are being organized in the near future. Delegation members are received at a high level, potential contacts of interest are pre-selected, and opportunities are provided to hold presentations for a wide range of interested enterprises and organizations.
– During such visits, we are convinced that Belarusian products are in constant demand, our goods are sought after, and we identify points of contact for developing cooperation, – noted Konstantin Chyorny.
Cooperation projects have many advantages. They ensure the growth of mutual trade, create jobs, stimulate the production of competitive equipment, and increase tax revenues to the budget. This is particularly relevant in light of the favorable conditions being created within the framework of the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space. However, in order for the potential of bilateral cooperation to be fully utilized, it is necessary to build relationships at a qualitatively different level, taking into account modern economic realities.
REGIONAL INITIATIVES
According to Konstantin Chyorny, it is necessary to determine the procedure for the creation and functioning of unified economic clusters (holdings), in which organizations of Russia and Belarus would equally participate.
For example, similar associations successfully operated in the flax industry, when fabric production technologies were developed in research institutes in Tver and Moscow, flax cultivation was carried out in Orsha, and finished garment sewing was done both in Belarus and Russia.
But today, a flax holding is being formed in the Smolensk region with the participation of Indian capital, and the Smolensk colleagues are only approaching the Vitebsk region with proposals for the export of flax fiber, without investing resources in its cultivation and primary processing.
One of the promising areas for cooperation is the agro-industrial complex. For example, large areas of unused agricultural land are located in the border regions of Russia, which are unlikely to be in demand for industrial facilities or mineral extraction. It is advisable to put them into circulation and contribute the harvest to a common fund. Moreover, Vitebsk region has a developed infrastructure of agricultural enterprises and a system for training personnel of relevant specialties.
People are interested in obtaining domestic, environmentally friendly, natural raw materials, their processing, and the production of guaranteed quality products. This creates new jobs, which is especially important for the local population. Russian regions have resources, but they lack a mechanism for their use in such joint projects.
– When we talk about integration, we must understand it in a broad sense: in the joint production of a product, training of specialists, and organization of a unified sales system, – noted Konstantin Chyorny. – At the same time, each region has its own developments and advantages, which must be used as effectively as possible in integration formations, whether it be an agricultural farm or an industrial enterprise.
Raw materials should be processed where it is most economically viable. As many participants as possible from both sides should be involved in production, and this process, supported by unified certificates and regulations, should not be disrupted by electricity tariffs or quotas for the supply of components and raw materials. We need to take care of creating a unified mechanism for guaranteed insurance of foreign trade transactions.
The current economic processes are pushing towards the development of such a cooperation scheme and its support at the highest state level, believes Konstantin Chyorny. Otherwise, we will be forced to compete with each other even within a single economic space.
– Any integration process cannot be spontaneous; clear management methods, specific projects, and personal responsibility for their implementation are necessary, – he emphasized.
The established production scheme, for example, for mechanical engineering products, requires linking metal producers, electronics manufacturers, hydraulics specialists, programmers, and a dozen other fields operating in the regions of Belarus and Russia into a single chain. At the same time, the current tender system does not take into account integration processes but supports those who offer lower prices.
– The main thing is for us to determine for ourselves: are we ready to support the creation and development of domestic producers of goods and services, or will we use what foreign partners outside the Union of Belarus and Russia offer, who actively promote their methods of management and production organization, – added Konstantin Chyorny. – Therefore, we cannot delay the adoption of integration decisions.
Meanwhile, the regional executive committee is forced to state: Russia's share in the exports of Vitebsk region enterprises has decreased to 43.4% (in 2016 – 60%), which is due to a number of factors.
In the Russian Federation, tender conditions have become stricter, and payment terms for shipped products have increased, leading to overdue accounts receivable for Belarusian companies.
Russian partners focus on exporting raw materials, while the Belarusian side expects an increase in the share of finished product supplies, which amounted to less than 60% by the end of 2017. In addition, Russia has restrictions on the supply of certain products from the meat and dairy industry, which also does not contribute to increasing trade turnover.