Working trip to Grodno Oblast

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Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko went to Ivye District, Grodno Oblast, on a working trip on 21 August.

While in Ivye District the head of state was made familiar with the operation of OOO LidaTekhmash. It is a private company specializing in manufacturing agricultural machines.

The President was informed in detail about manufacturing activities and development prospects of the company, the technologies in use, and the product choice.

OOO LidaTekhmash is part of the industrial group Tekhmash. The group specializes in making agricultural machines: tillage machines, parts of tillage machines, all kinds of harvesting machines. The group has started making combination tillage machines AKP-6 and cabbage harvesters MKK-2 this year. The group has designed and started producing the cultivator – cotton plant feeder KKhM-4 for Uzbek partners. Among other things the machines the group makes are designed for organic farming while many of the technical solutions are unparalleled in Belarus and abroad.

In H1 2019 LidaTekhmash made over Br7.6 million worth of merchandise in effective factory prices, 43% up from the same period of last year. Profitability of sales totaled 13.5%. Export exceeded $3 million. The products are shipped to Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The company employs over 130 people. The average monthly salary stands at Br1,024.

The management of the company and its specialists asked the head of state for assistance with resolving a number of issues. Trials of new products are one of them. The company usually makes products in small series, this is why the cost of trials per machine can be rather high. At the same time the machines have a significant export potential, this is why the company requested assistance with organizing exhibition activities, European certification, assistance with exporting and promoting products via existing trading houses of state-run industrial enterprises.

Aleksandr Lukashenko promised assistance with resolving the issues and even suggested his own household plot for trialing new machines. “I promise you they will do everything the way you say. But your shortcomings will be obvious as well,” he said. A separate testing center based in Grodno Oblast may be established as well.

The president also suggested thinking about future manufacturing cooperation with state-run enterprises in order to expand the manufacturing business. Instead of building new sites one may develop existing ones. In turn, the government could provide certain support in this regard.