OREANDA-NEWS. November 28, 2008. Belarusian and Russian industrial companies can minimise global crisis consequences through joint efforts, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Khristenko told a session of the joint board of the Belarusian Trade Ministry and the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry in Minsk on November 27.

“When the crisis is over, we will be strong and will be able to take a decent niche in export markets,” believes the Russian minister.

Belarus and Russia have reached a high level of manufacturing cooperation in most of basic production facilities, especially in mechanical engineering. It means that consequences of the lower demand and production decline can be felt both by Minsk Tractor Works and its 157 suppliers in Russia, said Viktor Khristenko. He specified that the share of Russian components in MTZ products stands at 42%.

There is a direct dependence, which can be interpreted from positive and negative points of view. “It means we have to think together how we can prevent decline in production and programmes for renewing the line-up of manufactured machines. Apart from that, it is necessary to maintain the relevant demand in agriculture, road construction, and transport industry for the machines, which are competitive and made using manufacturing cooperation between Belarusian and Russian companies,” stressed the Russian minister.