Lukashenko outlined beneficial areas of co-operation between Belarus and Russia’s Smolensk Region
During his today’s meeting with the Governor of the Smolensk Region of the Russian Federation, Vasily Anokhin, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko outlined promising areas of bilateral co-operation: joint assembly facilities, equipment supplies, machine tool construction, land reclamation, among others
The Head of State named passenger transport among the most profitable areas of bilateral liaisons. According to him, over the past two years, Belarus has supplied 55 MAZ buses to the Russian region. Electric transport supplies are also promising, and Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed in this regard, “This is the future. People in the Smolensk Region, as well as in Belarus, will have to deal with these issues. We have certain competencies, we need to work together.”
The supplies of road and utility equipment also look promising. Given the fact that Belarus borders the Russian region, it is will be beneficial for the parties to develop co-operation in this area. Moreover, the Belarusian leader spoke of the necessity to establish service centres to maintain the machinery locally.
As noted by the President, it is also possible to create joint assembly facilities of Bobruiskagromash and MotoVeloZavod, “It is beneficial for us, we have supported these enterprises, and we continue doing this at present as well. We need to move along this direction. After all, Smolensk will always need agricultural machinery.”
During the meeting, Aleksandr Lukashenko also touched upon the topic of land reclamation: the Smolensk Region is interested in this issue, and Belarus has relevant experience: the republic restored mobile reclamation columns after the USSR collapse. “We will always be engaged in land reclamation, our soils need this. We have passed this path, restoring the equipment – such as bulldozers, excavators, and drainers. Our Amkodor enterprise is situated not far from you, near Orsha. If you need our experience and help to start with, then we are ready to provide you with all possible, appropriate assistance,” the Head of State addressed the Russian guest.
Belarus is also ready to supply fire-fighting equipment to the Smolensk Region. As noted by the President, the republic already exports it to Zimbabwe, Vietnam, and China. Belarus is ready to lend a shoulder in road construction as well – implementing turn-key projects and acting as a subcontractor.
In addition, Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke of machine tool construction. “This is the future, no doubt. While in Irkutsk and Kazan, I talked with heads of enterprises, specialists, and aircraft manufacturers. They are very interested in machine tools,” he said.
The Head of State mentioned the famous Belarusian machine tool factory, Krasny Borets, in Orsha. Since Soviet times, it is known as a manufacture of ‘ideal tools’. “In recent years, we have done a lot in the machine tool industry, which is of special importance at present. Is there any industrial enterprise possible without machine tools? Along with microelectronics, machine tool construction is the number one issue for Belarus and Russia. Russia’s demand in Belarusian products is enormous. We are definite ready to help the Smolensk Region if it needs. Moreover, the facilities engaged into repair, restoration and development of machine tools are located nearby. This has been a Belarusian theme since Soviet times. The republic has certain success in microelectronics and machine tool industry, and it is even ahead of Russian regions in a certain sense,” he added.
