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Seven companies from Vitebsk Oblast win Best Exporter 2019 contest

04.11.2020 Vitebsk hosted a ceremony to award local winners of the Best Exporter 2019 contest on 4 November, BelTA has learned.

Due to the epidemiological situation, this year's award ceremony was held in a different format: instead of a gala reception in Minsk, the winners were celebrated in each region. Seven enterprises of Vitebsk Oblast became winners of the contest.

Orsha Forestry won the Forestry and Logging Industry nomination, Energokomplekt was named the best in the Electronics, Instrumentation, Electrical, Optical and Mechanical Engineering nomination. VIC Animal Health was ahead of competitors in the Treatment and Rehabilitation Products nomination, Aliansplast was named the best company in the Oil Processing, Chemical and Petrochemical Industry nomination, and TransExpedition was announced the best SME in the services sector. In addition, Vitebsk Carpets and Vitebsk Oil Extraction Plant received honorable mentions. The enterprises achieved good results in the export of light and food industry products, respectively.

Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vladimir Ulakhovich noted that the winners of the contest are the export elite. When choosing the winners, the jury assessed the volume of export, growth rate, foreign trade balance and efforts to penetrate new markets. Twenty-two enterprises of the country became winners of the national contest. The overall exports of the finalists exceeded $9 billion. The companies sold their goods to 113 countries. “Vitebsk Oblast has shown good results. Today, almost 100 countries worldwide buy products manufactured in this region of Belarus. There are over 800 exporters among small businesses alone. The region's manufacturing enterprises and food producers have great prospects, too,” Vladimir Ulakhovich said. He stressed that the government provides various kinds of support to exporters in the face of coronavirus restrictions.

Vitebsk Oblast Governor Nikolai Sherstnev thanked top managers and teams of the winning companies for their effective work. “It was the right decision to create free economic zones and to offer preferences to their resident companies. They are now up and running showing good performance. These companies have proved the effectiveness of such zones. However, the most important thing is to keep going, it is easier to reach a height than to stay on it,” the governor noted and wished the teams many successes in developing new products and entering new markets.

The Best Exporter contest is held annually. At the end of 2019, twenty-two companies were announced winners of the 2019 edition of the contest, 21 companies received honorable mentions. The main organizer of the contest is the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.