MINSK, 21 June (BelTA) – Belarus has started financing six integration projects thanks to a Russian loan, Belarusian First Deputy Industry Minister Aleksandr Ogorodnikov told BelTA after a flower-laying ceremony in the Military Cemetery in Minsk.
Aleksandr Ogorodnikov remarked that import substitution work continues. Among other things a number of integration projects are being implemented using money lent by Russia. “As of today I can talk about 17 approved projects. We started financing six projects in June. Four projects are being reconciled with the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry,” the official said.
According to Aleksandr Ogorodnikov, all the enterprises are involved in this work. “Some are implementing big and significant projects while some are busy with minor retooling. Some just intend to replace equipment in order to increase quality and output,” he said.
According to preliminary information, thanks to the realization of the investment projects in 2023-2025 as many as 1,680 new jobs will be created and 680 jobs will be modernized. “These figures directly indicate results of our import substitution efforts. There is no doubt that reduction of import dependence is also important. On the one hand, we spend less foreign currency on purchases. On the other hand, our products become exports since we reconcile them with our partners in other countries. We sell the goods we make for ourselves to other parties, too,” the first deputy industry minister concluded.