Belarus, Russia to resolve all disputes in mutual agricultural supplies

MINSK, 10 June (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia intend to remove all the existing issues in the mutual supplies of agricultural products, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Alexander Chernogorov told reporters at the Belagro 2010 expo on 10 June, BelTA has learnt. “In the near term we will exchange task groups in order to settle the existing issues, clear up misunderstandings and remove barriers in the bilateral cooperation in the agricultural field,” Alexander Chernogorov said. He added that the agriculture ministries of the two countries are set to sign a cooperation agreement soon. “There are some unresolved issues in our cooperation, but all of them can be settled. We should avoid wars, like milk or grain ones,” he said. He emphasized that agriculture should not bring discord to the joint plans. “Russia does not produce enough milk, so where are we going to take it from. Of course, not from America,” Alexander Chernogorov said. He added that Russia is now facing a challenge to sell grain, including grain used in foods. Alexander Chernogorov noted that the priorities of the bilateral cooperation in agriculture will not change after the appointment of the new Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mikhail Rusy. “The agreements signed by former Belarusian Agriculture Minister Semyon Shapiro and his Russian counterpart Yelena Skrynnik remain in place. The work will continue, there is some progress; some cooperation avenues might be fine-tuned taking into consideration the current circumstances,” the Deputy Agriculture Minister said. He believes that the two agricultural ministries should work together to support domestic producers. Russia needs Belarusian combine harvesters; Belarus-made foodstuffs are in demand in Russia. The two countries should do their best to make the exhibits of the Belagro exhibition work on the fields and use new technologies to create new jobs and pay a good salary,” Alexander Chernogorov said.

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