Republic

Chambers of commerce of Belarus, Russia's Udmurtia sign cooperation agreement

The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Udmurt Republic, Russia plan to team up to develop Belarusian-Udmurt exchange trade in order to increase mutual trade and strengthen bilateral trade and economic relations, the BUCE press service told BelTA.

The main efforts will be aimed at attracting small and medium-sized businesses to the BUCE electronic platform by organizing business seminars and forums, exchanging business missions and conducting comprehensive information campaigns on exchange trade topics. Such interaction is stipulated by the cooperation agreement between BUCE and CCI of Udmurtia, which was signed during an online conference on 8 October.

“The document should become a starting point for long-term mutually beneficial cooperation focused on practical results. I am confident that Udmurt businesses, primarily manufacturers, will willingly register on the Belarusian exchange platform and actively use its opportunities in their work. For my part, I would like to emphasize that we are always open to dialogue and ready to consider various options and forms of cooperation. The main thing is to start implementing the agreements as soon as possible. Therefore, I believe it is necessary to develop a roadmap of cooperation with a list of specific activities in the nearest future, which will form the basis of our further joint work,” said Sergei Vasiltsov, President of the Udmurtia Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The initiative was supported by Olga Gorelik, First Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange, who expressed readiness to provide any necessary assistance to Udmurt companies interested in entering the exchange commodity market of Belarus.

“Undoubtedly, the agreement is only the first step, and now we need to jointly translate the promising areas of cooperation listed in it into practice. We count on the assistance of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in informing the Udmurt business about the advantages of using exchange instruments. Proceeding from the experience of work with other Russian regions, it is the business community that shows the greatest interest in exchange trading, ensuring the lion's share of concluded transactions,” Olga Gorelik said.

Founded in 2004, the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange conducted its first trading session in June 2005. BUCE is one of the largest commodity exchanges in Eastern Europe. Its main function is to assist Belarusian enterprises with export and foreign companies with entering the Belarusian market. BUCE sells a wide range of metal, forestry and agricultural products, industrial and consumer goods.

According to the BUCE, in January-September 2024, the amount of exchange contracts concluded by companies in the Volga Federal District of Russia, which includes the Udmurt Republic, reached $45 million, which is seven times more than in the same period of 2023. The leaders in terms of exchange trade are companies from Tatarstan, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Samara Oblast, Bashkortostan and Chuvashia.