Фото: пресс-служба Лукашенко
Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin arrived in Minsk at the invitation of Aliaksandr Lukashenka. They met at the Palace of Independence today. The businessman is ready to contribute to the development of the Academy of Intellectual Technologies, which Lukashenka is seeking to establish.
“I have not been to Belarus for a long time. I came at the invitation of Aliaksandr Hryhoravich. We need to think through everything we are going to do here. We do not plan to act too quickly or recklessly. We need to understand the situation and the circumstances and determine what real result we could deliver for the Belarusian economy, without forgetting our own, Russian economy. All of this will gradually come as we move closer to our Belarusian colleagues,” he said after the meeting, according to BelTA.
Potanin noted that Belarus has a strong technical education system.
“Belarus has a strong technical education system, and it is important to preserve and strengthen it. It is of interest to me as a potential employer and as someone who is deeply involved in education.
I made a proposal, and Aliaksandr Hryhoravich supported the idea of a mutual exchange of educational programmes. We will be able to extend the experience we have in Russia in education, scholarship and grant programmes to Belarusian universities. There is a good academic base and enterprises that could serve as a testing ground not only for testing technology and innovations, but also for people, so that they can get used to real working conditions,” he said.
According to Potanin, he is also ready to contribute to the Academy of Intellectual Technologies.
“We will be able to bring some of our expertise there and enrich the areas that are planned for development, particularly in IT, AI and biotechnology,” he said.
Answering a question from state media, Potanin also provided a “theoretical” rationale for his visit.
“This is a negative trend. It has now been exacerbated by sanctions pressure. It is also because the world is currently undergoing a geopolitical reshaping. Such periods happen. They pass, and cooperation and collaboration are restored.
The question is what position we will be in when the time comes to build some new system of relations. If we come to that moment empty-handed, then our position will naturally be weak. We talk about this with our business colleagues, and, of course, this was also discussed with Aliaksandr Hryhoravich today. We need to combine our efforts where we have expertise and certain competitive advantages and preserve them. We need to try, through joint efforts, to maintain our positions in markets from which both Russia and Belarus are being pushed out, enter new markets and, to use a sporting analogy, stay in good shape so that when the whistle blows and a new round of competition is announced, we can perform in it with distinction,” he said.
On Sept. 7, Potanin, as president of Nornickel, signed an agreement to establish a joint venture with BelAZ that will focus on underground mining equipment. The Belarusian holding company has already supplied the Russian company with mining dump trucks and other machinery.