Belarus expects to resume operations at three joint manufacturing facilities in Venezuela. Dzmitry Dziaravinski, Belarus’s ambassador to Caracas, said this in an interview with Belarusian television.
“Work is currently underway to resume operations at these joint assembly plants. It should be acknowledged that they are true flagships, including for Venezuela. As far as I have been able to see, there is probably no comparable industrial production cluster anywhere else in the region. These enterprises are of great importance to Venezuela because of the combination of adverse factors that have affected the situation, including sanctions, the necessary reallocation of funds to address other priorities, and the consequences of the pandemic, among other things.
The enterprises suspended their operations and stopped manufacturing products. Their infrastructure and operational readiness were maintained, but without active production. As I have already said, work is now underway to resume their operations,” he said.
According to him, representatives of the Venezuelan ministry have already visited Belarus, and preparations are underway to conclude contracts.
“A visit by Venezuela’s deputy minister of industry to the Republic of Belarus was organized, and the itinerary was designed so that he could also attend the Belagro exhibition, where a wide range of agricultural machinery is on display. Following the visit, the parties reached specific agreements, including on resuming operations at the joint tractor assembly plant and the joint MAZ vehicle assembly plant.
The Venezuelan side was also interested in reviving production at a third enterprise, also built in Barinas. It was originally designed to manufacture various types of Amkodor equipment and at one time produced diesel generators. At present, the Venezuelan side is also interested in BelAZ equipment and Amkodor forestry machinery. Technical negotiations are now underway to turn these plans and agreements into a concrete agreement and a specific contract,” Dziaravinski concluded.