Meeting with Governor of Russia’s Vologda Oblast Oleg Kuvshinnikov

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko named the most promising avenues of cooperation with Vologda Oblast as he met with Vologda Oblast Governor Oleg Kuvshinnikov.

The Belarusian head of state noted that this is not the governor's first visit to Belarus. During his first visit in 2018, ambitious plans were set to expand cooperation in many areas. So now it is time to review progress, identify problems and thrash out the next steps.

Aleksandr Lukashenko listed key sectors that can drive the cooperation forward and suggested choosing up to three joint projects in each of these segments.

The President noted that in line with the agreements with Vladimir Putin, the government of Belarus received a very clear instruction - to step up efforts to expand cooperation with Russian regions.

This work is already producing results, the Belarusian head of state remarked. In 2022, trade between Belarus and Vologda Oblast hit a record of $680 million, up by almost 40% over 2021. Exports of Belarusian products almost doubled.

“We buy more from you than we sell, as Belarusian machine-building enterprises regularly purchase large volumes of Severstal metal products,” the head of state noted.

Another issue that the Belarusian leader drew attention to is that the trade lost momentum in January-August 2023. “As experts told me, this happened due to an 8.5% drop in your supplies of certain metal products and compound mineral fertilizers due to the price factor and due to changes in the dollar exchange rate. But, of course, this situation cannot be attributed only to fluctuations in the foreign exchange market. First of all, we need to expand the range of supplies, deepen cooperation, and keep an eye at the government level on projects that are underway,” the President said.