Kharitonchik: it’s vital to focus on areas necessary for the development of Belarus and Russia

In his talk with Belarus 1 TV channel, Belarus’ Deputy Industry Minister Dmitry Kharitonchik noted that at present it is necessary to focus on the areas necessary for the development of Belarus and Russia

According to the Deputy Minister, the agreement on a common industrial policy recently signed in Moscow stimulates joint work on co-operation in terms of import substitution.

“The document provides a legal basis, forming the legal framework for the adoption of subsequent regulations both in our country and in Russia,” he underlined. “This harmonises approaches to the development and stimulation of industrial production in order to conduct it in a co-ordinated manner and not duplicate excess capacity, and also not create excessive competition. It’s necessary to concentrate joint efforts and resources, including financial, taking into account the current geopolitical situation. Therefore, during this period, together with our Russian partners, we must concentrate on those areas that are really necessary for the development of our countries.”

Dmitry Kharitonchik also spoke about the implementation of joint Belarusian-Russian import substitution projects.

“There’s some progress. Some projects are starting to enter the stage of financing and purchasing equipment, for some, business plans are being formed and payback periods are being calculated, i.e., investment development. Some projects are at the stage of co-ordination with Russian partners, e.g., Gomselmash has mostly advanced and has already reached the stage of obtaining financial resources from the bank for the subsequent purchase of equipment. The projects of the Minsk Gear Works, the Minsk Bearing Plant and a number of other enterprises are also progressing well,” he added.

The Deputy Minister noted that preparations are underway for the country’s participation in the Innoprom international exhibition.

“The most important thing is not only the exhibition itself, but also the business programme that will be held during the exposition,” Dmitry Kharitonchik stressed. “From our point of view, the topic of machine tool building is now very relevant, being in demand both here and in Russia. We need to discuss how we move forward. Perhaps we need to agree the Union State programme for machine tool building, so these issues should be discussed at a special section. We are working on a number of other areas that are relevant for us and our Russian partners. We need to discuss these possible areas, compare our approaches and, possibly, select key global proposals in order to implement them later, including at the legislative level as part of the implementation of the joint Union State programme aiming to develop industry.”