Negotiations are underway to sell the haul trucks made by the Belarusian automobile engineering company BelAZ to Turkey, BelTA learned from Belarusian Industry Minister Vitaly Vovk on 11 November.

The official said: “We intend to return to the Turkish market with BelAZ vehicles soon. In the past we sold dump trucks with the carrying capacity of 35-40 tonnes. Now we are in negotiations to sell better trucks that will be able to carry 130 and 220 tonnes. The negotiations proceed vigorously. We are convinced they will succeed.”

Vitaly Vovk remarked that the BelAZ haul trucks may come in handy for coal extraction, for building a navigation canal in parallel with the Bosphorus Strait or a new airport in Istanbul. “We intend to take part in these projects together with BelAZ and MAZ,” noted the Belarusian Industry Minister.

In his words, there are good opportunities for selling Gomselmash agricultural machines to Turkey. The possibility of setting up a joint venture is under consideration.

“As far as MAZ vehicles are concerned, we are working hard on trucks and buses. But the market is complicated, the competition is tough. Nevertheless, we have found our niche together with our partner,” said the Industry Minister.

According to the source, negotiations are also underway to start manufacturing various automobile components in Belarus. “Work is in progress together with the holding companies Autocomponents and Amkodor. We are talking about cast products, steering mechanisms, and cardan shafts. Many avenues are open. Turkey has advanced quite far in this area and demonstrates an active stance. We have something to offer to Turkey. There is mutual interest. I think that we will see results of these negotiations next year,” said Vitaly Vovk.

The official specified that the automobile components would be produced primarily for the Belarusian mechanical engineering industry and the neighboring countries where the Belarusian holding company Autocomponents (aka Automotive Components) operates.

Veterinary experts from China will inspect three meat-processing companies in Belarus for the sake of evaluating whether their products are fit for the Chinese market or not, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Igor Brylo during the third Belarusian Animal Husbandry Forum on 21 October.

According to the source, a delegation of veterinary experts from China is expected to arrive in Belarus next week. They are supposed to visit three enterprises in Brest, Grodno, and in Minsk Oblast. If the enterprises receive positive evaluations, they will be able to export their products to China.

The official mentioned it is remarkable that 34 Belarusian milk-processing companies had been authorized to export their dairy products to Asia and to China in particular. Work is now in progress to get meat-processing enterprises authorized.

Effective performance of the food industry, cost reduction efforts, efforts to bolster the competitive ability and quality of agricultural products are priorities in Belarus today. “Those are the main goals of the government program on agribusiness development in 2016-2020,” said Igor Brylo.

Speaking about efforts to diversify target markets, the official pointed out that it is necessary to more actively promote Belarusian meat and dairy products in non-CIS states. “I mean all the aspects of the competitive ability starting with raw materials for the animal husbandry industry and ending with ready-made products. It will be possible to further increase output and export only by bolstering the competitive ability of merchandise, by utilizing state-of-the-art technologies and innovative R&D,” added the Belarusian Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister.