Alexandr Ogorodnikov was appointed the ambassador of Belarus to Uzbekistan, according to a statement on the website of the president of Belarus Alexandr Lukashenko. Since May 2022, Ogorodnikov served as first deputy minister of industry.
Born in 1970, Ogorodnikov graduated in 1993 from the Minsk Radioengineering Institute with a degree in Microelectronics and Semiconductor Devices. In 2007, he completed a master’s program at the Belarusian State Economic University, specializing in Economics and National Economy Management.
Ogorodnikov will succeed Leonid Marinich, who held the position of ambassador to Uzbekistan since April 2018.
During a meeting with president Lukashenko on 14 January, the head of the presidential administration of Belarus Dmitry Krutoy emphasized the importance of strengthening ties with CIS countries alongside Belarus’s major foreign trade partners — Russia and China. “Among these, the ‘big three' stand out: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan,” he noted.
Alexandr Lukashenko underscored the significance of inter-regional cooperation. “We have excellent relations with president [Shavkat] Mirziyoyev, but continuous engagement [with the regions] is essential. I am confident there is vast potential for collaboration,” he said.
In related appointments, Alexey Bogdanov was named Belarus’s ambassador to Kazakhstan and Dmitry Pinevich will assume the role of ambassador to Azerbaijan.