Vitebsk region enterprises to sign contracts worth 1 billion Russian rubles at the Forum of Regions

At the upcoming Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia, 15 exporting enterprises of the Vitebsk region plan to conclude contracts worth more than 1 billion Russian rubles, as reported by the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Economy Committee.

"Heads of individual enterprises of the region, mainly from the cities of Vitebsk, Orsha, Polotsk, and Novopolotsk, as well as representatives of the concerns "Myaso-Molochne Produkty" (Meat and Dairy Products) and "Belhospishcheprom" (Belarusian Food Industry Concern), will arrive as part of a delegation in Minsk to meet with their business partners at the forum. Preparations are currently underway, and it is expected that 15 exporting enterprises will conclude contracts worth more than 1 billion Russian rubles," noted Alexander Tikhonov, Head of the Export Activity Strategic Planning Department of the Committee.

In addition, the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee has sent letters to the administrations of the Saratov and Volgograd regions, as well as to the Republic of Bashkortostan, with proposals for signing cooperation agreements. The Russian side is currently coordinating this matter. The procedure is lengthy, so it is possible that the formalization of relations may occur after the forum, for example, during visits at the regional level. In general, the trade and economic ties of the Vitebsk region with Russian regions are stable, and the nomenclature of supplies has been established for a long time. Its annual changes are dictated by the market. The average annual trade turnover over the last 5 years is about $4.5 billion. However, according to the results of January-March 2016, these volumes decreased by 22.9%. Moreover, the export growth rate practically remained at the level of the first quarter of 2015, but imports fell by 30%.

"It should be noted that the volume of the negative balance has decreased by $164.5 million. The export growth rate exceeded 100% in the Voronezh, Ivanovo, Kaluga, and Lipetsk regions - a total of 33 regions. Shipments to the Amur region and the Republic of Tyva have begun," added Alexander Tikhonov.

More than 400 types of goods are supplied to Russia, including in-demand meat and dairy products, footwear, knitwear, packaging and construction materials, cable products, and chemical industry products. Business entities of the region cooperate with

all 8 federal districts of the Russian Federation and 76 regions out of 95. The main and significant partners are the Central, North-Western, Volga, and Siberian districts. The top five main export partners traditionally include the Moscow region, Moscow, the Smolensk region, Saint Petersburg, and Tatarstan. The main volume of goods supplies also falls on the Pskov, Bryansk, Leningrad, Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Sverdlovsk regions. The III Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia will be held in Minsk on June 7-8. Its central theme will be socio-humanitarian cooperation in the Union State, deepening of trade and economic ties between the regions, development of cooperation in the industrial sphere. Work in nine sections is planned.

During the forum, the third meeting of the interparliamentary commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia on interregional cooperation will also take place.

Ekaterina Knyazeva - BELTA.