Aleksandr Lukashenko meets with President of Riyada Group of Companies

Belarus and the Riyada Group of Companies are embarking on a number of projects, including on the delivery of Belarusian equipment to the Persian Gulf region. The issue was discussed at the meeting between President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko and Shaikha Dheya bint Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, the President of the Riyada Group of Companies, on 17 June.

At the negotiations the sides confirmed mutual interest in enhancing cooperation which was communicated at the previous meeting in Singapore in March.

“As we agreed, we will discuss the main issues of our cooperation. Some time has passed since then and I think we are moving in the right direction. Now we considered urgent aspects of exporting our machines abroad,” the head of state said.

The President stressed that Belarus is ready for close cooperation on the issues that were raised at the meeting in Singapore. “If you are interested, we can start working today,” the head of state added.

Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out the importance of the fact that a joint venture Riyada Pal Awali has already been created in Bahrain. "I know, you are looking into a number of areas and have already registered a joint venture in the Persian Gulf, which is interested to supply our equipment on leasing teams to the region, perhaps to Africa, Saudi Arabia,” the Belarusian head of state said.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, other projects, including the supply of milk for processing, heavy-duty trucks are also in the works.

“We have very ambitious projects and we look forward to close and fruitful cooperation,” he concluded.

For her part, Shaikha Dheya bint Ebrahim Al-Khalifa noted: “We are happy that we managed to complete the creation of the joint venture”.

She praised the professional level of the Belarusian team.

Shaikha Dheya bint Ebrahim Al-Khalifa also said that a number of other joint projects have already been launched.

The Riyada Group of Companies implements projects in oil and gas extraction and processing, production of natural resources. The company is also involved in the construction of social and infrastructure projects and railways, renders financial, consulting and insurance services in the Persian Gulf region and the Middle East. In 2010 the total volume of investments of Riyada Group was $1.1 billion, in 2011 it exceeded $1.4 billion.