OREANDA-NEWS. February 14, 2011. Facilities to assemble MTZ tractors and MAZ trucks will be open in Venezuela in autumn 2011, First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko told a session of the Ministry of Industry.

“We are to open a company assembling MAZ tractors and MAZ trucks in Venezuela on 31 October 2011. The estimated capacity of the company is 10,000 tractors and 5,000 trucks a year. There are plans to set up a facility producing loading machinery later.

Apart from engineering companies, Belarus is about to open a brick plant, which will manufacture 100 million conventional bricks a year.

Vladimir Semashko called for the Belarusian engineering companies to tap the promising markets of Brazil and Venezuela. Belarus and Venezuela are set to conclude an agreement on the deliveries of Venezuelan iron to Belarusian Steel Work. Venezuela had previously carried out these supplies, while the agreement will help make these deliveries permanent.

Vladimir Semashko stressed that Belarus should increase its export, to reach zero balance of foreign trade in 2014 and secure positive balance afterwards. He said that government contracts will be reduced and engineering companies will not be able to rely on them as before. For instance, the government has bought about 1,600 Gomselmash harvesters. In the future the government will buy less thus making the manufacturers tap overseas markets.

The companies subordinated to the Industry Ministry should use leasing schemes when promoting their products abroad. Vladimir Semashko praised the activities of Belarus’ national leasing operator, Promagroleasing, which sells Belarus-made machinery abroad.

Vladimir Semashko added that leasing schemes are rather profitable and Promagroleasing has enough funds to carry out such operations.

The First Deputy Prime Minister reminded that the government has lent the manufacturing companies about Br1.7 trillion in preferential loans. They are granted a delay of payment, but they have to meet the terms under which they obtained the loans.

The increase in prices for energy sources for industrial companies will slow down, Vladimir Semashko said.

“The tariffs on energy were increased 10%-15% on 1 January 2011, but I ask you to be patient. I believe it would be the last increase for the next several years,” he said.

In his words, such forecast is based on two key factors. The point is about seventeen constituent documents on the Single Economic Space. Two of the abovementioned documents suggest the formation of the common oil and petrochemicals market and natural gas monopolies.

“From now on, Belarus will import oil and oil products without any duties and restrictions,” Vladimir Semashko said. The current situation is far better than it was in 2010, when Belarus had to go through certain difficulties. Nevertheless, the Belarusian companies did not suspend oil refining. “The situation has improved. We did not import any oil from Russia in January, while the refineries kept operating,” Vladimir Semashko said.

The second important factor, which will curb the increase of gas prices, is switching to equal-income gas prices in 2012-2015. In line with the SES agreement, the parties have incurred obligations to enact equal-income prices. Thus profit margins on gas will be the same as in Russia and in Belarus, Ukraine, and Germany. By 2015 the member-states of the Customs Union will switch to equal prices.

“That is why we have to wait a little longer. We will get results immediately once we apply the principle of equal-income prices,” Vladimir Semashko believes.

He said that there are plans to put an end to the system of cross subsidies. “We have gone too far with cross subsidizing and have to put an end to these practices,” he said.

One more factor, which will make Belarus’ economy more competitive, will be the modernization of the national energy system. Thus, the introduction of new efficient units at Belarusian CHP-plants will help produce cheaper energy.