Industry Ministers of Belarus, Russia to meet in Minsk in March

MINSK, 17 January (BelTA) – The Industry Ministers of Belarus and Russia have agreed to meet in Minsk in March 2013 to discuss further integration in the industrial sector, BelTA learnt from the Industry Ministry of Belarus.

According to the Industry Ministry, on 16 January Moscow hosted a bilateral meeting between Industry Minister of Belarus Dmitry Katerinich and his Russian counterpart Denis Manturov. “The sides had a constructive dialogue on development of industrial cooperation. The parties took note of the positive dynamics in cooperation between the industrial companies of Belarus and Russia in 2012 and outlined the main cooperation areas for 2013,” the ministry said. In particular, the sides showed mutual interest in expanding relations in machine tool building, radio-electronics and metallurgy. “There have been outlined plans to expand cooperation in the supplies of Belarusian auto components to Russian companies,” the Industry Ministry noted.

As BelTA has reported earlier, the heads of the industrial departments of Belarus and Russia have agreed to speed up the process of setting up RosBelAvto Corporation at the basis of KAMAZ and MAZ. A number of organizational issues are to be addressed in order to launch the project.

The Belarusian side insists on the holding company being set up on the parity basis proceeding from the initial estimate of the assets of the two companies conducted by Ernst&Young rating company in April 2012: MAZ assets at $1.082 billion, KAMAZ at $1.620 billion. The Belarusian company is expected to contribute 75% of its shares minus one share into the holding company, with the Russian company bringing in 49.9%. The sides are also expected to develop the composition and formation principles of the supervisory board.