The visit of the Belarusian delegation headed by the Transport and Communications Minister of the Republic of Belarus Anatoly Sivak

A joint meeting of the working group on development of trade, economic and other relations between Smolensk region and the Republic of Belarus was held in the conference hall of the regional administration.

The First Deputy Governor Mikhail Pitkevich presented a detailed report on the results of implementing “The Minutes of the meeting of the Joint Working Group on Cooperation of the Republic of Belarus and Smolensk region, the representatives of the national and regional authorities, corporations, businesses and organizations in the Republic of Belarus and Smolensk region of the Russian Federation on development of trade and economic relations in 2013" of November 1, 2012. He noted that the regional administration is cooperating successfully with Belarus in the sphere of construction, road, housing and utility services, energy conservation and efficiency.

The Belarusian construction companies built several facilities in the framework of the Action Plan of the preparation and conducting the celebration of the 1150th anniversary of Smolensk. Now the Belarusian companies are engaged in constructing residential buildings in the regional center.

Mikhail Pitkevich also paid special attention to the cooperation in the energy sector, in particular to the use of energy-saving technology: heat pumps for residential and public facilities and etc.

The industrial cooperation has also been developed. One of the examples of it is the assembly production of refrigerators "Atlant-SM" Ltd. (Smolensk), set up by the Minsk refrigerator plant ATLANT Inc. at the Smolensk plant «AEISBERG». JSC "Safonovsky Electromashinostroitelny Zavod", which is a part of the RUSELPROM Concern, cooperates with OJSC "BELAZ". Several models of Belarusian haulers have engines produced in Safonovo. The Safonovo plant jointly with the Belarusian company has started another project to set up on the basis of “Safonovsky Electromashinostroitelny Zavod” an industrial and innovation complex, the core activity of which will be the production of electrical traction kit (ETK) and products based on it - the world's first new generation tractors and buses with hybrid drives, and also promoting on the market the vehicles with a combined power units and gaining a share of the vehicle drives market.

Since 2009 the Belarusian company Ltd. "Smolspetsteh", which produces tractors "Belarus - 82.1 CM" licensed by OJSC "Minsk Tractor Works" and tractors "Belarus 320-CM" for road construction, agricultural and utility needs, has been operating in Smolensk.

In the Kardymovsky district JCJSC "Servolux" (Mogilev, Belarus) is planning to carry out an investment project of constructing a broiler farm in 2015. As part of its implementation they intend to create the largest company in the Central Federal District, at which the latest technology will be introduced. Currently, the design and survey work is being carried out.

The head of the Smolensk division of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus Nikolay Kutsko presented his vision of further cooperation between Smolensk region and the Belarusian regions. He told the audience about the results of the joint work of Belarus and Smolensk last year, about the results that have been achieved in the socio-economic and cultural spheres.

In particular, carrying out a number of promising joint projects in Smolensk region was discussed. The trade house of the Belarusian Steel Works was opened not only to sell the products of the company, but also to purchase raw materials in Smolensk region. An important project of the cluster type is being carried out in the Mushkovichi village of the Yartsevsky district. In addition to the already existing joint agricultural company "Sodrugestvo", the two projects of other Belarusian companies are being developed in the municipality on the M1 motorway: a trade and exhibition complex selling construction materials and a multipurpose roadside center with petrol stations for a thousand vehicles per day, a campsite, a recreational area, and a service center.

The meeting also discussed the information interaction between Belarus and Smolensk region, encouraging the media to cover the life of the fraternal peoples and neighboring regions.

Also today the Smolensk Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted the meeting of the representatives of the Belarusian and Smolensk business community. During the meeting the businessmen from the two fraternal countries discussed the issues of the future mutually beneficial cooperation.