Lukashenko: Belarus and Russia can make considerable progress in import substitution

Belarus and Russia can make significant progress in terms of import substitution. This was stated by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting with Governor of Russia's Primorsky Krai Oleg Kozhemyako, BelTA informs.

"We see that all current problems in the economies of both Russia and Belarus can be overcome. And we are trying to overcome them. There is a certain slowdown in cooperation with Russia in general. We will meet with the Russian President in the near future. We will also discuss these issues. If we remove some minor issues from the surface, we can make significant progress in terms of import substitution. This is the most important thing for us now. This year has already shown that we can do it. It just takes a little time, but we can do it," said the Belarusian leader.

He noted that nothing has changed in Belarus' attitude towards the Primorsky Krai and the Governor personally. "We are ready to meet you at any time, in any weather. Your name is mentioned very often at my meetings with the Russian leadership and with the governors who visit us. We find points of contact," said the President.

Belarus' trade and economic cooperation with Primorsky Krai of Russia has been developing dynamically in the recent years. The trade turnover has grown from $17.3 million in 2020 to $32.7 million in 2021. In the first nine months of this year, it grew by another 80% compared to the same period last year to about $40 million. Meanwhile, exports more than doubled and reached $32.5 million. Belarus’ supplies to Primorsky Krai include mainly trucks, specific goods, equipment and devices for filtering liquids or gases, cheese and cottage cheese, butter and cream, plastic construction details. The imports from Primorsky Krai are constituted by car and tractor parts and accessories, medicines, meat and fish meal, and electric batteries.

The Russian region has established cooperation with many industrial enterprises of Belarus. For example, during the first 9 months of the current year Minsk Electrotechnical Plant named after V. Kozlov exported its power transformers for $1.6 million (7.4 times more than during the same period last year). In summer, this Belarusian company signed a memorandum with the Ussuriysk Automobile Repair Plant, under which it is planned to organize the assembly production of power transformers to the Primorsky Krai.