Evaluation of the Effective Use of Logistics Centers for the Transportation of Meat and Dairy Products from the Vitebsk Region of Belarus to Foreign Markets
An important condition for the effective development of the meat and dairy complex of the Vitebsk region of the Republic of Belarus in the conditions of tightening of various kinds of sanctions by the collective West is the further integration of the country with the CIS and China states and, above all, with the Russian Federation. In this regard, the further development and expansion of foreign sales markets is of great importance for the Belarusian economy. The most important goal of the study is the development of foreign economic activity at the enterprise level, which consists in finding additional opportunities to use the advantages of international production cooperation based on reducing infrastructure costs, primarily in the form of saving transport, warehouse and similar logistics costs, as well as in finding new markets for products and improving the use of existing markets. At the same time, it is important to take into account the perishable nature of meat and dairy products and the associated factor of the need for its speedy sale. The study was conducted using the methods of system analysis, ranking and priority selection, as well as using various statistical indicators, especially those related to the assessment of economic efficiency to reduce transport and storage costs associated with the selection of promising options for logistics centers located on the way of promoting goods to the buyer. Given this circumstance, the key factor in the growth of the economic efficiency of production and use of meat and dairy products is the creation of a network of logistics centers for the transportation of products to foreign markets and the selection of the most promising ones. In this paper, based on the calculations carried out, a methodological approach to selecting and evaluating the most effective logistics center is proposed for consideration. The work can be used to determine the optimal options for choosing markets for products, especially those with limited shelf life.