Governor of Russia’s Novosibirsk Oblast comments on cooperation with Belarus
Andrei Travnikov
MINSK, 27 April (BelTA) — Governor of Russia’s Novosibirsk Oblast Andrei Travnikov spoke about the priority areas of cooperation with Belarus as he met with Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, BelTA has learned.
Novosibirsk Oblast of Russia and the Republic of Belarus, despite the distance of half a continent, maintain truly good-neighborly relations, Andrei Travnikov emphasized. «Belarus is one of the main foreign trading partners of Novosibirsk Oblast., The agreement on cooperation between the Republic of Belarus and Novosibirsk Oblast turns 25 this year. The indicators of our interaction are constantly growing. We are planning to sign a new agreement in June of this year, at the tenth Forum of Regions in Ufa,» he said.
Novosibirsk enterprises supply turbine generators, resistors, spare parts, electron-optical converters, graphite electrodes and other goods to Belarus. «There are a number of specific interesting examples on the development of cooperation and new products. Thus, Sibelectroprivod actively cooperates with BelAZ and is implementing a project to create a traction electric drive for mining dump trucks. This electric drive features Novosibirsk developments,» the governor explained.
According to him, it is very important for the region to host MTZ-Siberia Trading House, a subsidiary of the Minsk Tractor Plant. «Today, every second tractor in the fields of the region is Belarusian-made. By agreement with our Belarusian partners, we adjusted state support for the agricultural industry a few years ago, and today we stimulate the purchase of Belarusian-made vehicles with the use of regional funds,» Andrei Travnikov stated.
Belarus and Novosibirsk Oblast have joint projects in agricultural engineering, he said. «A joint project to produce self-propelled vehicle — a sprayer – is in the works. It is in great demand in our region, especially in the light of the efforts to make agricultural production more efficient. Our region is also interested in the production of equipment for livestock complexes and dairies. This is import substitution, and a response to unfriendly actions on the part of individual countries,» the governor said.
For Novosibirsk Oblast, the topic of public transport is also relevant. «We we launched a large program to upgrade public transport two years ago. Over the past 2.5 years, Novosibirsk has received more than 200 units of buses, trams, trolleybuses. Indeed, the market is very competitive. We have Belarusian buses, trolleybuses made jointly with Belarusians. We have an absolute advantage in terms of trams. This is a joint venture BKM-Siberia. We agreed that this year our colleagues will start producing a model with an updated body, which will give impetus to the development of the market not only in Novosibirsk, but also in other regions,» he concluded.
