Robots, electric buses and digital technologies: what surprises INNOPROM in Minsk

Contacts, contracts and substantial amounts of contracts. Biggest business event of the year. For three days Belarus became the industrial capital of the EAEU. Our country hosts the largest international forum INNOPROM. The BelExpo International Exhibition Center united more than fifty companies from 40 countries under one roof. From famous tractors and unmanned Belazov to nuclear power, digital technologies and chips. Innovations and technologies of the future. But INNOPROM is not only an exhibition of achievements. First of all, it is a unique platform where contracts are concluded directly on the fields, and bridges of technological sovereignty are built at business meetings of leading industry experts. The economic impact of the big industrial dialogue last year was almost $270 million. The current one promises to add weight.

Unmanned Belaz is operated for 200 kilometers

From the pavilion - behind the wheel of a multi-ton dump truck. And this is not a computer game, but a real workplace for a new type of driver – someone who drives an unmanned BELAZ. The distance between the driver and the multitoner is two hundred kilometers. And this is a dump truck, which on the other side of the screen drives in the quarries of the test site in Sitnica.

Oleg Belyakov, CEO of IT company InDev Solutions: This is a development that today allows the Republic of Belarus to declare the innovation of products in industry. Economic efficiency is achieved by reducing the number of drivers and there is currently a shortage of drivers.”.

Artificial intelligence is naturally used in this technology. This allows the machine to independently perform many of the actions that are laid in it today.

Sergey Lesin, General Director of BelAZ, the managing company BelAZ-Holding: We refined the system according to the requirements of specific consumers in order to get maximum performance and security of the system. We have scheduled a presentation of our desolate technology. Tomorrow, about 50 representatives and potential customers will visit the Brest region and see our real landfill on which these robotic dump trucks operate.

Know-how of the Belarusian team. Engineers, specialists in unmanned systems, artificial intelligence and machine learning worked on the creation. What seemed fantastic yesterday has now become reality. The Center for Unmanned Technologies is responsible for this in the country.

INNOPROM is a unique opportunity to try the novelty in action and drive a 90-ton dump truck. At first glance, it is no more complicated than a computer game. But the main thing is that this test drive is first of all an opportunity to assess the path of the technological evolution of the country, when multi-ton dump trucks, as toys, can be controlled at a distance. In general, the exhibition is a synergy of achievements, where you can see the entire industry of the country in a day.

Electric buses and trams for cities

The future of the public transport industry. Non-urban - suburban electric buses! They will travel on a single charge of 250 kilometers. And three-section trams are convenient for passengers and mobility on the roads: they do not need a turning ring.

In international markets, these electric buses and trolleybuses need no introduction. They roam the streets of 15 countries. Trams are supplied to Ust-Kamenogorsk and Pavlodar, trolley buses to Tatarstan and Yaroslavl, electric buses to Krasnoyarsk, Sochi and Krasnodar. New products appear every year.

Mikhail Symanovich, General Director of BKM Holding: We present our trolleybus. The battery is assembled on the basis of lithium-ion cells. This is the safest and most cost-effective autonomous option. This trolleybus can travel autonomously up to 40 kilometers. This is more than enough for a modern city and its infrastructure. We plan to solemnly transfer this trolleybus for trial operation to the city of Samara, so that they could test it and make sure of its reliability and comfort.”.

Belarusian equipment enters new markets

More than 150 organizations represent Belarus at the exhibition. As for the international geography, the forum has doubled compared to last year. Among the participants are Russia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Thousands of miles are no barrier. Among the new participants are Cambodia and Iran.

Taher Jafariaref, representative of SEPAHAN OIL Company, Iran: Belarus has a strong industry. We are interested in your cars and look forward to mutually beneficial cooperation. We have something to offer. We are the largest oil refining and production company in Central Asia. We produce different types of oils. We can build a good trajectory of cooperation: you for us, and we for you. This exhibition provides an opportunity to establish a profitable business dialogue.”.

The goods are represented by the leading top managers of enterprises - business people. Time is money. Everyone here understands that. Therefore, urgent matters, including monetary ones, began to be resolved in the morning. New markets, export of technology and innovation.

Irina Manuylova, Deputy Governor of the Novosibirsk Region: Novosibirsk Region and Belarus are full-fledged partners. After participating in INNOPROM 2025, a number of our enterprises interact with Belarusian enterprises. Our company CIPR has now signed an agreement for the production of spindles directly for the Belarusian company, so that the machines that are assembled are then sent to the Ulyanovsk plant. A new production chain has appeared – an example of cooperation when, complementing each other, partners become interesting to a number of consumers.”.

Robots and technological independence

From B2B meetings to a large dialogue of experts who build bridges of integration for the long term. Thematic sections are the path to technological independence through shared competences.

Industry is, of course, machines and machines, but first of all – personnel, that is, people. Artificial intelligence can do a lot today, but it is still a powerful assistant, not a chief designer.

Retraining as a response to the shortage of specialists

Skills and retraining are the answer to the shortage of personnel. Effective solutions are sought internationally. Belarus has much to learn. The unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the world: just over 2%. The focus now is on mobile professionals.

Svetlana Shaporova, Director of Online Recruitment: We conducted a large survey: in September, we surveyed 10,000 job seekers and more than 100 employers. We looked at what kind of specialists we have and whether they are ready for retraining. We saw that in all age groups, more than 80% of specialists are ready to retrain and receive new qualifications. There is a shortage of personnel, so we work with the age category 15+ – young people who are very active in the labor market, and with the category 50+. Youth and the value of experience are essential.”.

The participants appreciated the opportunities of INNOPROM, which at one time started as an industrial forum in Russia. Today, the platform has become a powerful international tool for economic development.

Anton Atrashkin, Program Director of INNOPROM. Belarus: This year we held INNOPROM for the sixth time in Tashkent. Innoprom was first launched in India and Saudi Arabia. But for us, the organizers, INNOPROM in Minsk is a very special forum, because it is here that a huge number of cooperation projects are presented.

There is a big business dialogue ahead

The big business dialogue will continue on October 1. In addition to the exhibition and thematic sections, the meeting of the Belarusian-Kazakhstan Business Council will be the epicenter. The central event will be the plenary session, which will bring together hundreds of participants: from top managers of companies and scientists to prime ministers.

The key topic is new mechanisms for the integration of production chains. A lot has been done in industrial cooperation both in the EAEU and in the Union State. The roadmap includes 310 integration projects. But there's always more.

Read also:

Unmanned dump trucks, high-speed elevators, harvesters on tracks. What Belarus presents at the INNOPROM exhibition

Dormash: MAZ at INNOPROM presented a hybrid tractor, a turavtobus and an electric garbage truck

Gennady Svidersky: INNOPROM is an opportunity to meet with colleagues in the industry