RIGA - Riga's vice-mayor, Ainars Slesers (LPP/LC), took a business trip to Minsk to meet with city and national government officials, and with leading transport and machine-building companies, reports news agency LETA. The visit was from Aug. 11 to Aug. 14, under invitation by the city government.
Issues discussed between officials included possible cooperation in areas of transit and the attraction of Belarus investment to Latvia. Latvian assistance to Belarus in helping in the organization of the ice hockey championship in 2014 was also brought up.
According to Slesers, Riga could become a window to Europe for countries such as Russia and Belarus. "Latvia is a plane. One wing looks to the West; the other, to the East. And if cooperation with the West is at the highest level now, relations with our Eastern neighbors haven't been so good. Cooperation with Belarus is important. It gives us the chance to bring in new investments and access to new markets, both in Belarus, and in all the CIS countries," reports the vice-mayor on his Web site.
According to the Internet site of business news magazine The Baltic Course, Slesers' visit to Belarus has shown he still exerts strong influence on the development of the Latvian aviation industry and Riga airport. At a meeting with the minister of transport and communications in Belarus, he signed an agreement to increase the number of flights between Riga and Minsk.
According to Belarus news agency BelaPAN, the construction of a Belarus cargo terminal in the Riga Free Sea Port zone is one of the investment possibilities presented by Slesers. "It is necessary to work hard to bring back Belarus manufacturers, who have left Ventspils and have gone to Lithuania. We should do anything to bring them to the Riga Free Sea Port, because it means new cargo," said Slesers.
However, the Belarus Ministry of Transport and Communications does not consider it necessary to force the building in the sea port zone. The ministry's press secretary, Elena Solonenko, considers that "The offer on the possibility of building the terminal at Riga Free Sea Port has been made during the meeting with the Minister of Transport Ivan Sherbo, by the vice-mayor of Riga and business representatives of Latvia. The Latvian side is ready to consider different models, for example, that representatives of Belarus can construct terminals with 100 percent Belarus capital, or organize joint ventures with investment from both countries. Also, the Latvian side can invest in terminals under the order of the Belarus suppliers of cargo."
Solonenko remarked that "The terminal would bring big advantages to both states, especially taking into account that the offered territory is a free economic zone and is in the European Union. It would allow Belarus to cut down on costs of delivery of cargoes into EU territory, and within its borders." She added that "Management at the transport department believe that such a project may really be of interest to the government of Belarus, however, to rush its realization isn't necessary, [as first must be] considered its capacity, costs, time required for planning, and organizational issues."
"At the same time the Ministry of Transport is interested in a competition between the various ports of the Baltic [countries] and Russia, for Belarus cargo. As to development of the terminal system, first of all, the consignor should also be engaged in it," considers Elena Solonenko. The Belarus Transport Ministry however stresses that Latvia was and will be interesting to it, from the point of transit, especially by rail.
Slesers pointed out that his plans to increase transport through the Riga Free Sea Port, with Belarusian products including cars, tractors, bulldozers, etc., and exported to countries around the world, will create new jobs with the Latvian railway.
Other issues discussed were the possibility of joint projects in the machine-building industry. Slesers is interested, for example, in having Riga's factories build rolling stock for its eastern neighbors. Similar cooperation with companies such as Belkommunmash and RVZ would help to create less expensive, cost competitive products for European markets.
