On February 27, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky as the head of the Belarusian governmental delegation has left for St. Petersburg on one day visit, BelTA leant in the Council of Ministers' Office.
During the visit, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky will meet with Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko, take part in the 2nd session of the Belarus - St. Petersburg Business Cooperation Council, visit the St. Petersburg Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences and meet with its chairman Zhores Alferov.
During the session of the Belarus - St. Petersburg Business Cooperation Council, the sides intend to discuss the execution of the programme documents, the economic cooperation, the mutual trade in 2009, the expansion of sci-tech and production cooperation.
The sides are expected to consider the expansion of supplies of agricultural and food products, the setting up of a retail trade system to sell Belarusian goods, the prospects of the cooperation in construction and energy areas, the supplies of Belarusian machinery to St. Petersburg.
After the session, the sides are expected to sign the programme for trade, economic, sci-tech and humanitarian cooperation between the Government of Belarus and the Government of St. Petersburg for 2009-2011 and the protocol of the 2nd session of the Belarus - St. Petersburg Business Cooperation Council.
St. Petersburg is one of the most important trade partners of Belarus in the Russian Federation. In 2008, the trade between the Republic of Belarus and St. Petersburg made up RUB54.3 billion ($1 646.1 million), or 33.8% up as against 2007. St. Petersburg ranks fourth after the Tumen oblast, Moscow and the Moscow oblast on Belarus' trade partners main list.
The Belarusian export reached RUB27.6 billion ($835.7 million), or 28.2% up (the 3rd place among the Russian regions after Moscow and the Moscow oblast), import - RUB26.7 billion ($810.4 million), or 1.4 times up (the 5th place among the Russian regions after the Tumen oblast, Moscow, the Moscow oblast and Tatarstan). Belarus posted a surplus in trade with St. Petersburg at the amount of $25.3 million (RUB834.9 million).
In 2008, Belarus' main exports to St. Petersburg were iron and plain steel rods, furniture, dairy products, electrical transformers. Belarus imported scrap iron, plain steel rods, oil products, tobacco, water steam turbines from St. Petersburg.
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