Belarus, Russia preparing additional pool of import substitution projects totaling 70 bln rubles

MINSK. Oct 17 (Interfax) - Belarus and Russia are preparing an additional pool of joint import substitution projects in high-tech areas, the Belarusian ambassador in Moscow, Alexander Rogozhnik said on Wednesday.

"We and the Russian Federation have already begun implementing 27 projects with funds from the Russian side in the amount of 105 billion rubles. These are innovation, import substitution and high-tech projects. Now an additional pool of seven projects has already been formed, including in aviation," Rogozhnik was reported as saying by state news agency BelTA at a roundtable on the development of industrial cooperation between Belarus and Russia's Ulyanovsk Region.

He said 70 billion Russian rubles of financing has been raised so far, "but we're aiming to reach an equivalent amount, equal to the first loan of 105 billion [Russian rubles] and invest these resources in the development of high-tech manufacturing, so that the two countries achieve total self-sufficiency in the technological sense."

He said "a number of key issues regarding import substitution in the Union State have not been resolved yet," such as software development, machine tool and engine manufacturing and production of high-tech components for machine building.

"These are the niches that our business could pick up and master," Rogozhnik said.