Diplomatic Economic Club. The Guest in the club, H.E. Mr. Aleksandr Gerasimenko, Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Latvia

HIGH-LIGHTS by Jorge Guimarães - 2011, Apr. 16:

►First: the transit, Latvia▬►Belarus; up to 70% of Belarusian cargoes are transported to the third countries through Latvian ports.

► Second: A assembly plants in Latvia. Tractor Plant in Minsk is the worlds’ largest manufacturer of the wheeled tractors.

► Export to Europe from Belarus has 20% tax, but made in Latvia only 2%.

Mr. A.Gerasimenko as a guest at Diplomatic Economic Club. Riga. 31.03.2011.

After the video presentation H.E. Ambassador shortly introduced the members of the club with the current Belarus economic situation, told about developments in relations between Latvia and Belarus.
Before the crises foreign trade turnover between Belarus and Latvia reached $2.3 billion, in 2010 it dropped to $1billion, but already in the first 2 months of this year the growth reached 10.4%.

A. Gerasimenko pointed out two main directions for mutually beneficial co-operation. First one is the transit. Latvia is the major transit corridor for Belarus; up to 70% of Belarusian cargoes are transported to the third countries through Latvian ports.

The second direction is the development of assembly plants in Latvia. In the USSR Belarus was the assembly workshop place for whole the country, and Belarusians kept their industry. The Tractor Plant in Minsk is the worlds’ largest manufacturer of the wheeled tractors. The two major oil refineries can produce up to 36 million tons of fuel. In 2010 21million tons of refined oil products were produced there.
Nowadays Belarusian tractors are assembled in Gulbene and near Jelgava. Since 2004 company Alkomtrans constructs MAZ trucks in Jelgava, which have the label “Made in Latvia”.

Diplomatic Economic Club. The Guest in the club, H.E. Mr. Aleksandr Gerasimenko, Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Latvia