BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 29
By Fidan Babayeva – Trend:
Head of the Ministry of Architecture and Construction of Belarus Ruslan Parkhamovich disclosed the value of exports made by the local construction enterprises to Azerbaijan, Trend reports on June 29 referring to the Belarusian media.
According to Parkhamovich, the enterprises exported products worth over $3.5 million in the first quarter of 2021, which is 222.5 percent compared to the same period in 2020.
Besides, according to him, crystal is one of the most popular Belarusian goods in Azerbaijan.
"Both kits for everyday use and for exclusive products are in demand among the local population [Azerbaijani citizens]. By the way, the Belarusian ‘Neman’ glass factory produces Azerbaijani national glass cups - armudu for the residents of Azerbaijan,” the minister said. “Domestic cement, crushed stone and other nonmetallic materials, ceramic tiles, glass and crystal, various building structures are traditionally popular.”
Parkhamovich noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the work of enterprises in all industries, both large flagships and small producers.
“Some of them failed to withstand such endurance test, but some still managed to stay afloat. At one time Belarus made the right decision not to stop production due to COVID-19,” he further said. “However, due to the fact that many countries nevertheless closed their borders and their policy was aimed at supporting their producers, the export volumes of Belarusian building materials and services decreased."
According to him, in 2019-2020, the ministry, together with the Belarusian diplomatic mission in Russia, held negotiations with the leadership of 20 Russian regions.
“This allowed creating a significant groundwork that helps in this difficult time. At the same time it should be borne in mind that the sectoral industry, in addition to increasing exports, is targeted at effective demand in the domestic market, maintaining employment and preventing work in the warehouse,” Parkhamovich noted. “To promote the development of these areas, including exports, should improve the quality and competitiveness of domestic products in the sales markets, primarily by increasing the share of shipped innovative products in the total volume and optimization of the level of costs.”
“By the way, in the first quarter of 2021, the share of shipped innovative products in the total volume increased to 27.8 percent against 8.7 percent from January through March 2020", he added.
The minister noted that the agreements that were reached with the ‘Russian Ecological Operator’ public law company during the visit of its representatives to Belarus in April this year also started to be implemented in practice.
In particular, a plan of joint actions for the development of the industries of Russia and Belarus for the processing of solid municipal waste was determined. This plan envisages the participation of the leading construction companies of Belarus in Russian projects for the creation of relevant industries in various regions of the Russian Federation.
As Parkhomovich stated, negotiations are underway with the managing organization of the Engineering Division of Rosatom - ASE EC JSC. The possibility of participation of Belarusian construction organizations that were involved in the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, in projects for the construction of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant in Hungary and the Hanhikivi-1 nuclear power plant in Finland is being discussed.
Moreover, recently, negotiations have been held with representatives of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, during which the parties identified areas of potential mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of construction, concluded the minister.
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