Gomel Oblast, Russia’s Republic of Sakha sign cooperation agreement

GOMEL, 2 December (BelTA) – The Gomel Oblast Council of Deputies and the State Assembly of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russian Federation signed a cooperation agreement in Gomel on 2 December, BelTA has learned.

The document was signed by Chairwoman of the Gomel Oblast Council of Deputies Yekaterina Zenkevich and Chairman of the State Assembly of the Republic of Sakha Aleksei Yeremeyev.

Aleksei Yeremeyev stressed: “We have a good tradition of cooperation with Belarus.”

It was noted that an agreement on long-term cooperation between the Gomel Oblast Executive Committee and the Sakha Republic government was signed back in 2012. “We lacked interparliamentary cooperation to achieve full cooperation. The first contacts were established half a year – one year ago. And finally the agreement has been signed,” Aleksei Yeremeyev said. In his opinion, the document will provide a good foundation for the legislative regulation and for budget funding. Aleksei Yeremeyev is convinced that contacts will grow stronger and that economic, trade, cultural, scientific cooperation between the two regions will only grow higher.

Yekaterina Zenkevich pointed out that interregional cooperation with Russian regions became part of Gomel Oblast’s practice a long time ago.

Yekaterina Zenkevich said that Gomel Oblast develops dynamically. “We make quite a tangible contribution to the country’s output. We contribute over 10% of the country’s GDP, over 20% of the industrial output, about 15% of the agricultural output, and 15% of the fixed-capital investments,” she mentioned.

In turn, Aleksei Yeremeyev noted that the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is the largest constituent territory of the Russian Federation and makes up one fifth of Russia. Diamonds, gold, and coal are actively mined in the region in addition to the vigorous development of oil and natural gas extraction. “Our industrial potential is large. We are intent on becoming the largest coal miner in the Russian Federation. At present Yakutia extracts about 15 million tonnes of coking coal. The figure is supposed to be tripled or quadrupled within the next 3-4 years to reach 50 million tonnes. Virtually the entire Asian-Pacific region needs our coal. To accomplish the goal, we need heavy trucks, high-quality ones, for which Belarus has always been famous,” he stated.

Aleksei Yeremeyev stressed that Yakutia is happy to cooperate with Gomel Oblast. He said: “We know your industrial potential, agricultural potential. We know what kind people live here.” In his words, Belarusian agricultural machines – harvesters and tractors – are in high demand in Yakutia. Apart from that, Yakutia residents know Gomel Oblast agricultural products well.

Information technologies represent another sphere of common interests. “Information technologies develop well in Belarus. And we pay a lot of attention to information technologies in Yakutia. Our IT companies already generate revenues, which, one can say, are comparable to revenues from gold mining,” Aleksei Yeremeyev specified.

During the meeting the sides talked about the main vectors of their work. While in Gomel Oblast the Yakutia delegation will be made familiar with the potential of the Belarusian region.

BELARUSIAN NEWS