On October 29, 2020, the III meeting of the Working Group on Cooperation between Republic of Belarus and the Murmansk Region (online format on the ZOOM platform) was held.
Belarus is one of the main foreign trade partners of the Murmansk region. The development of trade and economic relations and the implementation of the plan of previous years were included in the agenda of the meeting of the working group on cooperation between the Belarus Republic and the Murmansk region.
The Deputy Governor of the Murmansk Region Olga Kuznetsova is the chairman from the Murmansk region, and from the Belarusian side the working group was headed by the deputy chairman from Minsk City Executive Committee Yuri Truschenko. The working group from both sides includes representatives of state and municipal authorities, business associations.
The bulk of exports to the Murmansk region are engineering products, concrete, artificial stone, metal structures, agricultural products (meat and dairy products), etc. Belarus, in turn, buys apatite concentrate, fish and fish products from the Arctic Circle.
Head of the Murmansk city Administration Evgeny Nikora briefly highlighted various areas of cooperation between the twin cities of Murmansk and Minsk: in the field of education, culture, youth relations, as well as in the field of transport – the cooperation between Electrotransport JSC and MAZ JSC.
Friendly ties between Murmansk and Minsk were originally established in 1995. The corresponding agreement was signed in Minsk on June 30, 1995 by the chairman of Minsk city executive committee Vladimir Ermoshin and the head of the Murmansk city administration Oleg Naydenov. Cooperation intensified in 2014 after the decision of the Council of Deputies of Murmansk to establish twinning relations with Minsk.
Since 2014, representatives of both Murmansk and Minsk visit each other almost every year: with friendly visits, organize business missions, participate in joint events in the field of culture, youth policy, physical culture and sports.
Of all the spheres of interaction, it should be noted the activities carried out in the framework of the development of the transport sector – this is the cooperation of Electrotransport JSC with MAZ JSC.
Since the establishment of twinning relations, 70 units of rolling stock manufactured in the Republic of Belarus have been put into operation. The purchase of vehicles is carried out by concluding leasing agreements.
For the period 2018-2020, 11 buses were purchased (with a total funding of 101.5 million rubles). Until 2025, it is planned to purchase another 30 units of rolling stock (with a total funding of 280 million rubles).
The participants in the meeting expressed confidence that the dialogue that took place would give impetus to the development of versatile ties between the Murmansk region and the Republic of Belarus, which are an example of truly fraternal relations based on the principles of taking into account each other"s interests.
