A meeting between the head of the region, Nikolai Sherstnev, and a delegation from a Chinese company took place at the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee.
The arrival of the Chinese delegation in the Vitebsk region is a result of negotiations that took place in the PRC during the visit of the First Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Oleg Matskevich, to the international forum on animal husbandry in Henan Province on September 18-19 of the current year.
Direx Food Group is one of the young and successful companies in China, owning 11 milk processing plants that produce yogurts, kefirs with berry fillings, pasteurized and dry milk. It also owns tea plantations, several confectionery factories, a vineyard plantation in Italy, and livestock farms in Australia. Now, Belarus has become an area of interest for this company.
First and foremost, the discussion concerned the construction of large dairy farms with a total of 20,000 dairy cows. The company actively promotes the introduction of bioproducts in the Chinese market.
The PRC has large dairy farming enterprises, and their influence on the economics of milk processing plants is significant, while the availability of ecologically clean land plots is extremely limited. Additionally, Chinese partners expressed their intention to purchase 10-15 thousand tons of dry milk monthly.
Enterprises in the Vitebsk region, including the Verkhnedvinsk Butter and Cheese Factory, the Lepel Dairy and Canning Plant, and the Glubokoye Dairy and Canning Plant, already have the relevant certificates for supplies to the PRC. Therefore, there are prospects for cooperation. In addition, representatives of the Chinese company noted that if necessary, they are ready to assist in promptly obtaining certificates for supplies to the PRC market.
Foreign partners are also interested in establishing a tourism holding (a 50-bed hotel, a Chinese cuisine restaurant) and building a cottage village for Chinese businessmen. In Vitebsk, they were offered sites for the implementation of these projects. The discussion also covered the purchase of natural wood products and the study of modern woodworking technologies at enterprises in the Vitebsk region.
To get a closer look at the potential of the Vitebsk region, the three-day visit program for the delegation from China includes visits to several regions and enterprises. In particular, livestock farms in the Chashniki district, the "MazolovoGaz" livestock complex in the Vitebsk district, the Polotsk Dairy Plant, the Verkhnedvinsk Butter and Cheese Factory, the "Krasny Bor" tourist complex, and the Glubokoye Condensed Milk Plant.
As noted in the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Economy Committee, an intention was expressed to organize a visit to the Vitebsk region by the leadership of Henan Province by the end of 2017.