Russia’s Orel Region Governor: deeper integration is major task amid imposed sanctions

In a conversation with journalists after his meeting with President Aleksandr Lukashenko, Russia’s Orel Region Governor Andrei Klychkov noted the high level of interaction between his region and Belarus

photo: www.belta.by

“Based on the results of 2023, Belarus accounted for 25 percent of the Orel Region’s total foreign trade turnover. We understand that our current main task is to ensure deeper integration amid the post-COVID situation and the imposed sanctions,” stressed the Russian governor.

The guest agreed with the prospects of those areas of co-operation that the Belarusian leader spoke about during their meeting, primarily in agriculture.

“The Orel Region is one of the leaders in agriculture, and we see great potential for the use of Belarusian agricultural machinery. Moreover, we have historically accumulated experience in our relations with the Minsk Automobile Works (MAZ), the Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ) in the use of equipment, in integration with our enterprises, and with the Mtsensk Engineering Plant,” added Andrei Klychkov.

According to the governor, the issue of creating a multi-brand service dealer centre in the Orel Region for the Belarusian machinery – now actively purchased – is currently underway.

“Even in Q1 2024, almost fifty units of equipment have already been purchased, and in the remaining time we are also ready to buy about eighty units,” noted Andrei Klychkov.

Speaking about agricultural co-operation, the guest said, “Today, the issue of food security is key both for Belarus and Russia. We boast good joint developments with the republic’s scientific centres in the selection of seeds of sugar beets, as well as soybeans, rapeseed, and grain crops. Despite its small territory, the Orel Region harvested almost 5 million tonnes of grain, legumes and oilseeds, and there is very great potential here.”

The Russian governor also drew attention to the fact that Belarusian builders are well known in the Orel Region, “In the pre-COVID period, a school was built in one of the cities; I think we can now build close co-operation in order to implement projects dealing with social facilities and residential construction. We proposed ten sites for the integrated development of residential buildings to work with Belarusian colleagues.”

According to Andrei Klychkov, microelectronics is another promising area.

“The Orel Region is one of the microelectronics centres in Russia’s Central Federal District. We have a good foundation here, with our companies having their dealership centres in Belarus. Working visits have already taken place, and we will integrate more deeply into our joint projects,” he asserted.