Belarus, Russia prepare road maps for 25 import-substitution programs to be funded by Russian loan - Russian Industry and Trade Ministry

MINSK. April 1 (Interfax) - Belarus and Russia have prepared road maps for 25 import-substitution programs to be funded by a Russian loan of over 80 billion rubles, Russian Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Yevtukhov said.

"Twenty-five road maps have been prepared for projects in various industries, such as power engineering, micro- and radio-electronics, car industry, agricultural machinery and pharmaceutics, to be funded by a Russian loan of over 80 billion rubles," Yevtukhov said on the Belarusian state-run television channel Belarus 1 on Sunday.

"Most of the facilities will be built in the Republic of Belarus, while some others, for instance, micro-electronic factories, will also open in the Moscow region of the Russian Federation," he said.

Enterprises of Russia and Belarus have established "not just dozens but hundreds of cooperative ties," Yevtukhov said. "This is both the mutual supply and production of certain raw materials, resources, devices and hardware. I would not even call them import-substituting industries: in fact, these facilities enable our technological independence, we not just dismantle, copy and reproduce something together to avoid dependence on a third party but also move forward. We make products that give us a competitive edge. This is what technological independence means, and it goes beyond import substitution," he said.