There is a record. We are waiting for new ones!

Agreements and contracts worth 110 billion Russian rubles were signed at the 10th anniversary Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia in Ufa

The Forum of Regions of Belarus clearly pushes the boundaries and builds up skill sets year by year. If at the first congress in 2014 the utilitarian topics of ensuring food security were discussed, then following the results of the 10th Forum of Regions, it was noticeable that the event was becoming an important place for discussing allied topics in the field of the economy as a whole. At the same time, the meeting is clearly ready to take the next step in development, outlining its claims to the status of a new authoritative analytical platform for shaping a development strategy for the entire Union State. 

Scope of achievements

One of the key venues of the Forum of Regions is traditionally the exhibition of achievements of the regional economy. On the second day of the forum, it was opened by Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalya Kochanova and Chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia Valentina Matviyenko. 

This year, the centre of Ufa has housed the products of 35 companies from 19 regions of the two states: more than 100 pieces of equipment, a large part of which is produced at joint ventures and in co-operation programmes. 

In the pavilion with an area of 2700 metres there are stands of 10 companies from Belarus and 19 Russian companies. More than 1000 representatives from 58 subjects of the Russian Federation and all regions of the Republic of Belarus took part in the forum. In total, the number of participants involved in the organisation and preparation of the forum was about 5,000.

Economy as the heart of co-operation

Also, by tradition, the main, final day of the forum is set aside for the programme of business negotiations. Natalya Kochanova and Valentina Matviyenko held a meeting with the heads of state authorities of the constituent entities of Russia and regions of Belarus. 
 “Of course, economy is at the heart of Belarus-Russia co-operation. 

Over the four months, the trade between Belarus and Russia reached some $17 billion. I think this year’s trade will be bigger than last year’s. 

And the forum will contribute to that in many ways. About 450 documents of various levels are in force between regions, districts, cities of the Republic of Belarus and constituent entities, municipalities of the Russian Federation. Intergovernmental agreements have been concluded with more than 70 Russian regions. By now, sister city relations and partnerships have been established between 52 Belarusian cities and towns and 117 Russian cities, districts of large cities,” Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic said.
“Over the past year, the trade turnover between Russia and Belarus increased by 12 percent, reaching a serious figure of $45 billion [including services — $50 billion], Russian investments in the economy of Belarus increased 1.5 times. Last year, nine joint (Belarusian-Russian) assembly plants and enterprises for the production of agricultural, transport and municipal equipment were created in the Russian Federation,” Valentina Matviyenko added.
It turned out to be important that the regions of Belarus and Russia are not going to stop at today’s indicators, looking ahead and actually invading the area of strategy. Governor of the Astrakhan Region Igor Babushkin made a proposal to partners from Belarus to create their own logistics centre in the port of Astrakhan with the prospect of access to the ports of the Caspian Sea.

Focus is on prospects

The plenary session, the main event of the Forum of Regions, obviously continued the trend towards the formation of a strategic analytical platform within the framework of the regional congress. Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexey Overchuk reported on the results of the economic development of the Union State, and First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Nikolai Snopkov — on the prospects for the next period. In both speeches, of course, the idea that the regions make up the state was clear, but nevertheless, the trends indicate that the topics of discussion are going beyond the regional.
“The focus in our joint work with colleagues from the Belarusian government remains on the implementation of 28 union programmes. Today, the integration package of documents has been completed by 80 percent. Completely, we consider, actions on 10 programmes are closed. In all key areas, we are working very actively, and we strive to maintain the established pace. 

Our regions play a very important role here, and as part of the work on import substitution in the period from 2022 to April 2023, 66 subjects of the federation signed 2,717 contracts worth 75 billion Russian rubles,” Alexey Overchuk explained.

First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Nikolai Snopkov, in continuation of his colleague’s speech, dwelled on the strategic future. The new phase of integration for 2024-2026 is based on three main principles, he said, “The first and most important thing is to ensure technological independence, technological sovereignty. Sectoral projects will be created on the basis of the activities of the union programmes. A number of sectors of the economy have been outlined where we are already implementing joint projects. The first steps have been taken in microelectronics, we will soon make a decision in the field of machine tool building, we have approached the solution of ambitious tasks in the field of space and aircraft construction. This approach will be consolidated in all major sectors: industry, agriculture, energy sector, transport. The second component of the new programme is the construction of a single digital space of the Union. The third component is the removal of the remaining barriers and exemptions.”

New ‘think tank’

As a result, the plenary session of the forum left a rather clear impression of the emergence in the Union State of a new structure that controls and influences its development. No wonder Natalya Kochanova proposed to create an analytical session within the framework of the congress and ensure its interaction with the ‘think tanks’ of our countries and abroad. Moreover, the Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic noted the need for a unified analytical platform of the Union. This is all the more relevant because the Forum of Regions has become a powerful bond between Belarus and Russia in ten years, Natalya Kochanova, “The 10th Forum of Regions has updated absolute records: about 100 co-operation agreements have been signed, contracts worth about 110 billion Russian rubles have been concluded. However, it is clear that this is not the limit. Today it seems important to focus on the development of new promising areas and approaches to work that contribute to the qualitative development of the Forums of the Regions of Belarus and Russia.”
The proposals of the Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic were adopted at the meeting. This means that the Forum of Regions has reached a new level of influence on the processes in the Union State. 



By Maksim Korotkin
Photos by belta, Sergei Lozyuk, Aleksei Bibikov