Meeting of the Joint Working Group on Cooperation between the Kursk Region and the Republic of Belarus

On February 17, a meeting of the Joint Working Group on Cooperation between the Kursk Region and the Republic of Belarus was held under the chairmanship of the Minister of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus Konstantin Shulgan and the Governor of the Kursk Region Roman Starovoit. During the meeting, interaction between the Belarusian and Russian sides in 2020-2021 were considered.

Welcoming the participants of the meeting, Konstantin Shulgan noted that this was the first meeting since January 2020 organized at such a high level. Despite the pandemic, most of the planned activities took place.

Covering the issues of foreign trade between Belarus and the Kursk Region, Assistant Minister Natalya Aleshkevich noted that the trade turnover increased 1.5 times compared to the previous year. The structure of deliveries shows that Belarusian equipment, components, spare parts, furniture, knitwear, dairy and sausage products, services of construction organizations are traditionally in demand in the Kursk Region.

Valery Gurin, head of the Smolensk Division of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation, noted that the prospects for expanding cooperation are quite wide. Among other things, the Belarusian side can offer services for the construction of social facilities (for example, schools), road construction and reconstruction of bridge structures.

The Kursk Region Governor Roman Starovoit emphasized that life itself is pushing for resolving issues of mutual relations and active economic ties between the regions. In order to promote the interests of businesses has been created an information portal of the Kursk region. "January 2022 marks 20 years of cooperation between the Kursk Region and its main economic partner, the Republic of Belarus," he said, announcing the intention to organize a business mission in Minsk and sister cities in the summer of 2022.

Russian participants of the meeting noted their interest in increasing the supply of Belarusian food products, as well as agricultural machinery, as soon as there is warranty service organized.

The results of cooperation between the Chambers of Commerce and Industry and their participation in expanding business contacts were outlined by the General Director of the Gomel Branch of the BelCCI Marina Filonova. Despite the created conditions, negotiations with Russian partners continued, meetings were organized by the Gomel, Vitebsk and Mogilev branches of the BelCCI in an online format. Traditionally, the Kursk Region partners have maintained closer cooperation with the Gomel Branch. Representatives of the Kursk and Belarusian businesses participated in the main image events of the regions – the International Exhibition "Spring in Gomel" and the Kursk Korenskaya Fair. In the future, the Kursk Information Portal and the electronic platform for international contacts GOMEL PRO BUSINESS can become promising resources for the exchange of commercial offers of companies and business contacts.

The participants of the meeting also voiced the problem issues of cooperation, made proposals for expanding contacts in the tourism and cultural spheres, interaction between universities, healthcare institutions., healthcare institutions.