GOMEL, (BelTA) – The Belarusian manufacturer of agricultural machines Gomselmash is set to ship the first batch of equipment to Zimbabwe in March 2020, Director General of the company Aleksandr Novikov told the media on 20 February, BelTA has learned.

“The first batch of 20 items of machinery to Zimbabwe will be shipped in March this year. This is a pre-paid contract,” Aleksandr Novikov said.

In his words, despite all the difficulties related to sales, Gomselmash sold a total of 1,280 vehicles overseas in 2019. These are bigger numbers than we had in 2018. “We sold 90 more vehicles to Russia,” the director general said.

Last year Gomselmash increased its exports to the post-Soviet countries of Asia. “These are Georgia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. A total of 110 vehicles were sold to these countries in 2019,” Aleksandr Novikov said.

The Belarusian holding company Gomselmash is one of the largest manufacturers of agricultural machines. It is one of the leaders on the world market of harvesters and other sophisticated agricultural machines. The company uses the Palesse trademark to market lineups of grain and forage harvesters, ear corn harvesters, potato harvesters, mowers, and other agricultural machines. Palesse harvesters are used in fields of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Czechia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Argentina, Brazil, China, South Korea, Baltic states, and other countries. Gomselmash operates an extensive distribution chain, joint ventures, and assembly enterprises.

Belarus has also offered Zimbabwe 500 buses to help modernize the country’s public transport system. Following recent visits by President Mnangagwa to Belarus, Russian and Kazakhstan.

Minister for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told journalists that “Belarus has offered to help develop Zimbabwe as a regional transport hub using its own experiences. Belarus also offered to provide Zimbabwe with an initial 500 buses with the possibility of increasing the number in future.”

Mthuli Ncube, Finance and Economic Development Minister revealed the government was exploring options on how to best utilize the offer.

“It’s not free as you can imagine, it costs money. We are looking into this offer to see whether we can complete and consummate it but certainly 500 additional buses will make a huge difference in the mass transport system. We will progress this offer from our Belarusian friends but for now it’s an offer on the table that we need to consummate,” he said.

• Zimbabwe Mail