Russia leads in exchange turnover with Belarus

From January-August, 2021, the exchange turnover of Belarus and Russia increased 1.5-fold to reach $375m – which is more than with any other of the 68 countries trading on the exchange, the Chairman of the Board of the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange, Aleksandr Osmolovsky, said 

Speaking at the Belarus – Russia: Integration and New Horizons of Industrial Co-operation and Import Substitution panel discussion held as part of the Belarusian Industrial and Innovation Forum, Mr. Osmolovsky informed, “The structure of import transactions was dominated by ferrous and non-ferrous metals, coal, coke, cable and wire products. Belarusian construction materials, dairy products, rapeseed oil and wet-blue leather were exported. The Russian Federation also ranks first in the number of accredited non-resident companies. At the moment, over 2,600 Russian participants work with us – which comprise more than half of all foreign clients of the exchange. In my opinion, this clearly demonstrates the level of our co-operation in the field of exchange trading.”

Mr. Osmolovsky paid special attention to transit transactions. According to him, the use of the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange as a springboard to enter the markets of third countries will make exchange trading more popular among Russian businesses.

“Over eight months of 2021, Russians accounted for $5.5m of transit transactions, mostly buying woodworking, petrochemical and construction industry products, as well as equipment and mechanisms. At the same time, our industrial and consumer goods platform, functioning on the principle of an electronic marketplace for the B2B segment, enjoyed the greatest popularity among Russian companies. With its help, Russian exporters successfully sell products to Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Estonia,” Mr. Osmolovsky commented.