The electronic import substitution platform of the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) has 50,000 unique commodity items, Head of Industrial and Consumer Goods Trading Department of the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange Dmitry Prokopchuk told BelTA after his meeting with representatives of Grodno Oblast private enterprises to discuss business development on 10 August.
“In May, the BUCE launched an electronic platform for import substitution. In light of the sanctions pressure on businesses, logistical links have been destroyed. The exchange has developed a product that will help enterprises, first of all Belarusian producers, to enter new markets and find new consumers, and will simplify the procurement procedure to the maximum extent possible for suppliers. Now we have 50,000 unique commodity items on our platform. The system has accumulated 38,000 sale and purchase orders,” said Dmitry Prokopchuk.
In his words, the electronic platform is universal. “This is a fully domestic solution. Anyone can use it. It is actually free of charge: a small percent is paid upon completion of the transaction. We provide a whole range of services, including training courses. We made a platform for the government's needs in light of the current situation. We continue our work and hope that in the near future we will present the second improved part of this platform,” said Dmitry Prokopchuk.
The meeting with representatives of Grodno Oblast private enterprises on business development, which was attended by Deputy Economy Minister Sergei Mityansky, also highlighted other issues of economic support. The participants of the meeting discussed, for example, the SMEs programs of the Development Bank. Irina Yurevich, Leading Specialist of the Customer Management Department at the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus, spoke about the opportunities the bank offers to entrepreneurs.
More than 45 regulatory enactments have been adopted in Belarus to support economic development. A comprehensive plan of support measures has been developed and approved by the Presidium of the Council of Ministers. It is a roadmap defining a list of measures, first of all of normative legal acts to be adopted. As it was emphasized during the meeting, it is important not only to inform businessmen about the taken support measures but to hear about the problems and difficulties on site in order to rectify the situation.