Republic
29.01.2007
Belarus hopes to get assistance from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the project on constructing a plant to produce biofuel from rapeseed, agriculture minister Leonid Rusak has told BelTA after his talks with a delegation of the FAO sub-regional bureau led by its leader Maria Kadlechikova. The talks have been held in Minsk today.
According to the minister, it is one of the four investment projects to be implemented in Belarus this year with the FAO assistance. The project on the biofuel production from rapeseed will be implemented in Gomel oblast. The rape will be planted in the Chernobyl affected regions to promote their rehabilitation. According to Leonid Rusak, there are about 300 thousand hectares of the polluted areas in the country which are not cultivated. According to international experts, rapeseed does not accumulate salts of heavy metals. So, it is possible to plant rape for technical use in these regions. The cost of the project makes up almost EUR 300 thousand.
Belarus was one of the first CIS countries to join the FAO. The FAO standards related to agriculture practices, food quality and safety requirements mainly coincide with those of the World Trade Organization which Belarus hopes to join in soon. Experts of the FAO sub-regional organization also visited a number of Belarusian companies to inspect the production processes.
Leonid Rusak noted that in implementing projects FAO experts are ready to provide assistance to Belarusian companies in the form of technical aid and also in the form of seminars on new technology. One of them on biodiesel fuel issues will be organized in Q1 this year.