Modernization and advanced technologies will level out the consequences of Russia's WTO accession for the Belarusian agro-industrial complex - L. Zayats

October 15, Tolochin / Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. Modernization and implementation of advanced technologies will neutralize the negative consequences of Russia's accession to the WTO for Belarusian agricultural producers. This point of view was expressed in a conversation with a BELTA correspondent by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Leonid Zayats. In the Tolochin district, he held a meeting with the heads of districts of the Vitebsk region on the results of the livestock industry in the region for January-September 2012. "In the WTO conditions, Belarusian producers will be able to compete only by increasing the volume of agricultural products, reducing costs, and increasing production efficiency. This can be achieved by modernizing production capacities and mastering modern technologies adapted in advanced farms of Belarus by all agricultural enterprises," the minister emphasized. The head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food recalled the ongoing work in the country on the reconstruction of 1.2 thousand dairy farms. These will be modern complexes with new equipment that will help bring livestock farming to a different qualitative level - industrial production, he stated. Based on the results of work for January-September, enterprises of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food exported products in monetary terms by 18% more than in the same period of 2011, with a positive balance of foreign trade turnover. Leonid Zayats is confident that the projected indicators for the export of agricultural products in 2012, set at $5 billion, will be met. -0-