Belarus’ exports fully offset losses from sanctions in Q1 – official
May 24, BPN. In the first three months of 2023, Belarus’ exports fully compensated for losses caused by Western sanctions, a senior cabinet member has said.
Government policies ensured a foreign trade surplus with exports of goods and services reaching a 10-year high, First Deputy Prime Minister Mikałaj Snapkoŭ told the National Assembly’s joint session, the press offices of both chambers report.
In 2022, sanctions had a direct impact on a quarter of Belarus’ economy, indirectly affecting all other sectors, but the government redirected exports to “friendly countries” and managed to offset 80 percent of losses in the Western and Ukrainian markets, Snapkoŭ noted.
Exports to Russia rose by nearly 60 percent to $2.2 billion and China, by 40 percent, he said. Exports of goods in all commodity groups grew by 13 percent to $3.6 billion, the official added.
Over the past few years, Western countries imposed sectoral sanctions on the Belarusian authorities for human rights abuses, the forced landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk in 2021, artificially created migration crisis and complicity in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Belarus’ economic decline slowed down to 0.6 percent year on year from January to April, the National Statistics Committee (Belstat) said.
In 2022, Belarus’ GDP fell by 4.7 percent. The government slated a 3.8-percent economic growth for 2023.
- Economy, Politics
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja meets with EU foreign policy chief, other leaders in New YorkThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityFemale killer deployed via Belarus to assassinate Russian opposition figure has been arrested in Kyiv, SBU saysThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityTerritorial forces in Homiel region hold counter-drone drillThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyŁukašenka tells officials to tackle housing construction dropThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsPremier of Canada’s potash-rich province warns USA against “buying blood potash from Belarus”The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyHaraŭski acquittal goes to appeal in SwitzerlandThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- SocietyLatvia finds 100,000 contraband cigarettes from Belarus in railcarThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja in New York urges solution for Belarusians without IDsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsUkraine's top diplomat warns against easing sanctions on MinskThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Security, SocietyVilnius airport halts operations over cigarette-smuggling balloons from BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsKGB arrests pilots at airbase near Minsk as political purges grind onThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Politics, SocietyPačobut set to return to Belarus permanentlyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyIrregular Belarus-Latvia crossings exceed 11,000 since late MarchThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityVietnamese military delegation led by army ideology chief arrives in BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, Politics, SecurityEU envoys agree to prolong Ukraine‑related sanctions against Belarus by three years, report saysThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsŁukašenka heaps praise on Russia’s State Duma electionsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsBelarusian foreign minister leaves for New York to participate in UN eventsThe material is available only to POZIRK+



