OREANDA-NEWS. August 31, 2010. Kursk Oblast is interested in setting up MAZ and Belkommunmash assembling plants, Kursk Oblast Governor Alexander Mikhailov said as he met with Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky.

“Today we have several issues on the agenda. We would like to consider a possibility of setting up a MAZ assembling plant at the GRINN Corporation,” Alexander Mikhailov said. “There is an auto service center and a good basis for launching the project there. We would like to make this company a MAZ basic subsidiary in the region and for the central Russia,” he added. The GRINN Corporation is a large company, with an aggregate turnover of nearly RUB30 billion.

“We are also looking into an idea of assembling Belkommunmash trolleybuses. We are ready to make this company interregional,” the Governor said.

According to Sergei Sidorsky, the sides agreed to produce MAZ vehicles in Kursk. “We have also coordinated the issue of setting up a number of service centers for the Belarusian agricultural equipment, MTZ and Gomselmash, in particular,” the Belarusian Premier said.

In his words, the meeting highlighted cooperation in agriculture. The delegation of Kursk Oblast praised Belarus’ scientific approaches in land use and crop cultivation. The Belarusian side is ready to share its technologies.

Belkommunmash and Kurskelectrotrans signed an agreement to supply Belarusian equipment to Kursk Oblast under various delivery schemes.

An agreement on cooperation in science and education has been signed by Belarusian State Agrarian and Technical University and Kursk State Agriculture Academy.

The sides also discussed the cooperation links between economic agents of Belarus and Kursk Oblast.

All this will contribute to the bilateral trade and strengthen trade and economic cooperation.

In January-June 2010, the trade between Belarus and Kursk Oblast amounted to almost USD50 million, up 1.4 times from the same period in 2009.

According to Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky, the trade volume suggests that the parties must work to reach the pre-crisis level of trade which was USD147 million.

A delegation of Kursk Oblast is in Belarus on a visit. The delegation was in Gomel Oblast, where a joint working committee held a meeting. The sides signed an action plan for cooperation in 2011-2012.

“Yesterday was a day of meaningful work,” said Alexander Mikhailov. “We, in the Kursk region, are happy with the status of implementation of the agreement signed in 2002 and extended into 2006. The documents allow economic entities to communicate effectively and solve a number of issues,” Alexander Mikhailov added.