The Vitebsk region of Belarus is preparing an agreement on sister city relations with Crimea. This will take economic cooperation between the two regions to a new level, especially since both have the status of a Free Economic Zone.
Chairman of the regional national-cultural autonomy “Belarusians of Crimea” Roman Chegrinets announced this on Radio Crimea, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“In principle, it already exists de facto, we are waiting for it de jure,” he explained. – They have a good production base, a free economic zone, just like in Crimea. Therefore, there is prospect here. We have already taken our entrepreneurs to different directions, they have met, the first agreements have already been signed, naturally, after the conclusion of the twinning agreement, they will move to another level. We are going to work somewhere on renewing, somewhere on creating new sister-city relations. Our wonderful city of Kerch is twinned with the city of Mogilev. And we want this twinning to be revived now.”
According to the head of the Belarusian community, a number of other Crimean and Belarusian cities are conducting preliminary negotiations on concluding sister city agreements, moreover, based on economic interaction.
“I looked at how colleagues from other regions of Russia work. For example, in Belarus there is a representative office in Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. They employ several people, but on whole programs. The governor of the Krasnodar region arrived and immediately bought 200 tractors to work in the vineyards.
For its part, Belarus provides a full cycle of support, including a repair base. And for them this is a 5-year program,” Chegrinets emphasized. “They are ready to create their own centers here, which will service both agricultural machinery and any other equipment - buses, trolleybuses, etc. Now Crimea needs to show how it works. Belarusians will not go to competitions and 44 Federal Laws, because they have demand. If earlier they were ready to sell us a batch of 50 tractors with shipment within six months or a year, now the same batch will be ready only in 2 years. Because the queue has grown due to import substitution.”
In the regions of the Russian Federation cooperating with Belarus, they use their regional legislation to regulate “bureaucratic casuistry.” Moreover, Belarus is interested in improving the health of its citizens at Crimean resorts, including at the expense of state funds. But due to transport logistics and pricing, a trip to Turkey from Belarus is now much cheaper than to Crimea.