Vice premier: Rising energy prices for the EU open a window of opportunity for Belarus
5 September 2022, 13:40
“We have agreed oil and gas prices. Therefore we will continue importing them,” Piotr Parkhomchik said, answering a question about the expectations from the rising energy prices in the EU.
At the same time, according to the deputy prime minister, this opens new opportunities for Belarusian producers. “We have a window of opportunity. We produce a lot of pellets and a lot of wood products, which can be used in Europe. I think there will be private companies that will build bridges so that the products we produce could enter the European market,” he said. Piotr Parkhomchik believes that “life will force them to take our products”.
The vice premier also mentioned joint investment projects between Belarus and Russia amid the sanctions pressure on the two countries. “There is a second part, caused by the sanctions imposed on our country and Russia. We have a big number of investment projects here. As of today, there are already more than 20 projects. They involve a large number of vital areas. Both the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus are interested in these projects,” he stressed.
Piotr Parkhomchik believes that this gives a certain technological sovereignty to the Belarusian companies. “We just need to unify our design capacities in order to get an effect,” he added.
The deputy prime minister outlined the most promising of the Union State projects. In particular, he named the project with Mogilevkhimvolokno. “Negotiations with Tatarstan are underway. I think it is a great project, large investment. Most importantly, it will contribute to the development of Mogilev Oblast,” he said.
According to Piotr Parkhomchik, there are a large number of projects in the machine building industry. For example, BelAZ is implementing a project in Orsha to produce blanks using a hot ring rolling method. “There has been no such production in Belarus,” he stressed.
The deputy prime minister also spoke about the situation at BelGee. “We are starting to work at full capacity in September. I think all our consumers who want to buy a BelGee car will be satisfied. In monetary terms, we will reach the volume that we did last year. The personnel work and receive salaries on time. The main issues, I think, have been resolved,” he said.
According to Piotr Parkhomchik, technological sovereignty is important for the country. “When there is a school, when people continue the work of their grandfathers, fathers for a long period, the enterprise itself lives and develops. This philosophy of life confirms the correctness of the decisions taken by our state in 1994,” he concluded.
