Nizhny Novgorod is a million-plus city. The capital of the Volga region and the fifth largest metropolis in Russia is located at the meeting point of the Oka and Volga rivers. Nizhny has always been an attractive place for trading. And nowadays, it is still a promising region for the development of economic relations.
Belarus has been cooperating with the Nizhny Novgorod region for more than 15 years. There are successful developments in industry, agriculture, construction, education and science, and petroleum chemistry. New spheres of cooperation are also developing, such as energy engineering, IT, and the production of electric vehicles. Direct mutual trade in goods only amounts to more than 700 million US dollars. It is indicative that exports and imports have approximately equal shares, therefore, bilateral trade is well-balanced. At the same time, a significant part falls on investment and intermediate goods, which indicates a high quality level of cooperation.
Cars, equipment, road, agricultural, municipal equipment, electric vehicles, food products come from Belarus to the Nizhny Novgorod region.
Of particular importance for both sides are such areas of ensuring technological sovereignty and economic security as industrial cooperation and import substitution. And there are success stories in this direction as well – in the field of machine tool building, mechanical engineering, and others. In the Nizhny Novgorod region, the assembly of Belarusian elevators has been set up, the "Belshina" trading house, dealers of such large engineering enterprises as "Gomselmash", Minsk Tractor Works, Minsk Automobile Plant, and "Amkodor" are operating. On December 3, 2022, a joint Russian-Belarusian venture for the production of trams was opened in Vorsma, Nizhny Novgorod region.
Belarusian construction and design organizations have extensive experience in the Russian regions. Agreements have been reached on their involvement in the construction of comprehensive schools in some cities of the Nizhny Novgorod region. The Belarusian side also offers Nizhny Novgorod its technologies for the construction and reconstruction of dairy complexes.
"Belarus and the Nizhny Novgorod region have similar industrial structures, similar macroeconomic indicators (in terms of population). This all creates very good conditions for further cooperation development," the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko expressed this opinion during a meeting with the Nizhny Novgorod region Governor Gleb Nikitin.
As part of the government delegation visit, a delegation of business circles of Belarus arrived in Nizhny Novgorod to develop cooperation. The organizers of the visit business program with the participation of Belarusian and Russian entrepreneurs were the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Union "Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Nizhny Novgorod Region".
The main event of the business visit was the business forum of the Republic of Belarus and the Nizhny Novgorod region, hosted by the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin on February 1.
The event was attended by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus and the Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, as well as the Chairman of the Board – Director General of the Union "Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Nizhny Novgorod Region" Ivan Razuvaev, Director General of the Minsk Branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergei Nabeshko.
Belarusian business was represented by more than 70 heads of companies operating in various sectors: woodworking, microelectronics, innovative production, chemical, food industry, agro-industrial complex, light industry, construction. From the Russian side, partaking in the event were more than 190 representatives of executive authorities, business associations and companies.
Gleb Nikitin, the Nizhny Novgorod region Governor, said that the interaction between Nizhny Novgorod and Belarusian enterprises has become much stronger in recent years.
"The dynamics of trade turnover for 2022 remains positive, the indicators are high. I believe that in many respects we have achieved such success thanks to regular joint activities. Our work also contributes to solving many issues of bilateral cooperation," Gleb Nikitin said.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko, expressed confidence, that the participants of the forum will find new projects, conclude new contracts and will certainly agree on what else needs to be done this year in order to bring cooperation to a new level, taking into account the conditions we live and work now. Last year, we helped each other in fulfilling orders, producing the goods our countries need, and thus made a common contribution to countering the external pressure that both countries are experiencing. This pressure united the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus not only politically, but also economically. We have taken a fresh look at our scientific, technological potential to ensure national technological sovereignty and economic security," Roman Golovchenko noted.
"The Belarusian delegation includes representatives of the country's largest enterprises interested in developing cooperation with Russian partners. Such interest in our region is not accidental – this is a consequence of the great work on the development of bilateral relations, done over the years," said Ivan Razuvaev, Director General of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
Welcoming the forum participants, Director General of the Minsk Branch of the BelCCI Sergei Nabeshko noted that Belarus and the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia enjoy effective and friendly relations. Cooperation between the Chambers of Commerce and Industry is actively developing, exchange of visits is carried out on a regular basis, events are held with the participation of business.
"Every visit to the Russian Federation observes an increase in the number of participants from the Belarusian side. Today, there are more than 70 Belarusian participants, representatives of about 50 enterprises. Of course, there are partners who know each other and work on a permanent basis, but at the same time there are many representatives of small and medium-sized businesses who want to establish new contacts," Sergey Nabeshko noted. He expressed confidence that the visit of the Belarusian business and the forum would deepen cooperation ties, contribute to the implementation of successful projects, and also invited the business community of the Nizhny Novgorod region to visit Belarus to continue productive interaction. "Chambers of Commerce and Industry will continue to provide effective businesses dialogue tools, including within the framework of the upcoming Forum of the Regions of Belarus and Russia, the INNOPROM exhibition and other congress events," the General Director of the Minsk Branch of the BelCCI said.
The forum focused on the discussion of economic development tools, such as territories with special tax regimes, science and innovation support programs, stock exchange trading. Presentations were made on the investment potential of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the import substitution platform created on the basis of the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange, the possibilities of industrial parks and other special economic zones in Belarus and the Nizhny Novgorod region.
The possibilities of joint projects implementation, participation of Belarusian and Russian companies in public procurements in the two countries were considered.
The forum was preceded by B2B negotiations at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Nizhny Novgorod region. The representatives of 34 companies from Belarus and 140 Nizhny Novgorod enterprises gathered at the negotiation platform. In total, more than 500 bilateral meetings were held, new business contacts were established to deepen trade and economic cooperation between the Republic of Belarus and the Russian region.
As a result of the forum and negotiations, bilateral documents were signed – agreements on cooperation, including those between the Administration of the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park "Great Stone" and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, as well as contracts for the supply of products.
The visit of the government delegation and business to Nizhny Novgorod showed a high degree of involvement of both enterprises and the governments of Belarus, the Nizhny Novgorod region in solving the problem of strengthening trade and economic cooperation and increasing trade turnover. Belarus and the Russian region have practically no issues that are problematic or controversial and that need to be addressed. All this creates good conditions for moving on to new projects and partnership heights.
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