{"id":79307,"date":"2024-04-12T11:39:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T08:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/79307\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"europes-restrictions-on-car-re-export-may-hit-belarusian-economy","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/79307\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe\u2019s restrictions on car re-export may hit Belarusian economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Ale\u015b Hudzija<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neighboring European Union countries are not letting expensive cars with transit plates into Belarus. The restriction could upset the fragile balance in Belarus’ foreign trade.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n (pxhere.com)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A small open economy, Belarus is particularly sensitive to changes in foreign trade. It produces far more goods and services than it consumes domestically, so exports and transit revenues are particularly important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanctions cause problems<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Baltic states and Poland have closed border crossings, but the remaining ones still maintain Belarus’ substantial trade with the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sanctions have hit exports and transits hard, but officials complain about the restrictions without elaborating on their causes, as if they came out of the blue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kanstancin Mo\u0142asta\u016d, head of the Belarusian State Border Committee, speaking in Uzbekistan at a meeting of CIS border chiefs, said that neighboring states were trying to “economically isolate Belarus” by closing most checkpoints and ignoring international agreements on cross-border traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did not comment on accusations by the EU that Belarus engineered a migration crisis at its border. Neither did he comment on the bloc\u2019s concerns about smuggling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 2020 crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, international sanctions have undermined Belarus\u2019 export, transit and logistical potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has redirected exports to Russia, increased exports to third countries via Russia and used gray schemes for re-selling sanctioned goods to Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The schemes would have been reflected in the statistics, but Minsk restricted public access to data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gray schemes: re-export of cars to Russia<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Eurostat data shows a significant increase in car exports to Belarus. In 2023, imports of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers from Germany rose to \u20ac1.77 billion, from Poland, to \u20ac899 million and from Lithuania, to \u20ac738 million. Imports from Germany and Lithuania jumped at least fivefold from the 2020 level and from Poland, 12-fold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, Belarusians could not buy all those cars. Most vehicles were re-exported to Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EU exports to Belarus<\/strong>
Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, \u20acK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EU27, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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