Republic

The government of the Republic of Belarus and the administration of the Sverdlovsk oblast of the Russian Federation are to sign a plan of action on cooperation development for 2008-2009. The document is to be signed during the visit of the Sverdlovsk oblast delegation headed by governor Eduard Rossel to Belarus on April 23-25. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry told BelTA that the delegation consists of representative of the executive power, enterprises and organizations of the oblast. Among them are top executives of trade and industrial enterprises, associations of businessmen, educational, scientific and research institutions of the Sverdlovsk oblast. The Foreign Ministry noted that the agenda of the visit includes the meeting with the Belarusian senior officials. Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky and governor of the Sverdlovsk oblast Eduard Rossel will hold talks on coordination of joint efforts on the further intensification of mutually beneficial cooperation. In particular, they will touch upon cooperation in the industrial area, export of Belarusian production to the Sverdlovsk oblast, creation of a Belarusian trade and logistics centre in Yekaterinburg. The delegation is to visit the Minsk Automobile Plant. The Sverdlovsk oblast is the main trade and economic partner of Belarus in the Urals. In 2007, the trade between Belarus and the Sverdlovsk oblast rose by 41.5% from 2006 and reached $482.6 million (the oblast ranks 8th among the regions of the Russian Federation) which is the best result for the last 12 years. The export of the Belarusian production rose by 52.8% to amount $192.5 million, the import increased by 34.9% to reach $290.1 million. Belarus exports to the Sverdlovsk oblast refrigerators, tractors, trucks, aluminum, wallpaper, elevators and agricultural machines. The main imports from the Sverdlovsk oblast in 2007 were train carriages, copper, aluminum, electrical machines and equipment.