Russia compensated for half of Belarus’ losses from foreign markets’ closure – envoy

June 23, BPN. Russia’s ambassador to Belarus has said that interregional cooperation allowed the two countries to reduce the impact of western sanctions, citing the “record” $45.8 billion in trade in 2022.

It was largely achieved thanks to regions cooperating “almost in real time,” Boris Gryzlov said in a Vzglyad op-ed.

“This is very clearly seen in how quickly Belarus redirected its exports from western countries to Russia: last year, we managed to offset about 40-50 percent of Belarus’ losses caused by the closure of a number of traditional foreign markets,” he said.

Gryzlov claimed that the share of Russian spare parts in many Belarusian products has reached 90 percent, and that it is growing steadily.

Previously, BEROC economist Leŭ Lvoŭski told BPN that Russia is not only Belarus’ main trade partner, but also a logistics hub, which, in his opinion, is bad politically and economically.

“If you have one trading partner, then any shock to that country will be a shock to you,” he said. Besides, that country can demand special privileges, such as “a greater share of your income.”