On Monday, Switzerland joined the EU sanctions against Belarusian citizens and firms believed to support dictatorship. Most of these firms belong to Vladimir Peftiev. Belarusian and international media often portray him as having a significant role in the regime....
International agency Standard&Poors in April increased Belarus' credit rating from B- (negative) to B (stable). The agency i observed the signs of financial stabilisation in Belarus economy. Although inflation is still very high, it began to slow down, the...
The Ambassadors of Poland, Lithuania and Sweden have returned to Minsk and their colleagues are on the way to the Belarusian capital. It seems that EU-Belarus relations have broken the deadlock, but they remain difficult and the EU has...
The Belarusian Statistics Agency reported about a fantastic growth of exports in January-February 2012. Compared to the same period last year, the country’s exports grew by impressive 62,5%. The official propaganda trumpeted that Belarus has successfully overcome all the economic troubles...
Yesterday Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin talked with Alexander Lukashenka over the telephone. On the same day Lukashenka announced at a meeting with Belarusian foreign policy officials that he may release some of Belarus' political prisoners. The relation between these two...
Last Monday, flights between Minsk and Moscow suddenly stopped. Russia has recalled the licence for flights to Russia from Belavia, the Belarusian national airline. The Belarusian side responded by cancelling the licences of the Russian companies. A new trade...
Belarusian government recently reaffirmed its desire to become a top-30 nation in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report. To assess how well local authorities across the country pursue this goal a number of Belarusian organisations organised a special competition –...
The incumbent Belarusian government has a long record of deceptive behaviour in its foreign relations. Both its major trading partners – Russia and the European Union – have more than once seen official Minsk let them down on its...
On 21 February 2012 Belarusian finance minister Andrei Kharkovec announced Belarus' plan to restore its positions in international ratings which suffered following the recent economic crisis. The state news agency Belta also announced that the main Chinese rating agency Dagong will...
On 20 January 2012, the authorities approved a new strategy to attract foreign direct investments. This document can be regarded as a new invitation for foreign business with advanced technologies to take part in privatization in Belarus. The authorities...
The frosty winter which is paralyzing many European capitals has hit Belarus hard. While public services work efficiently in the capital, many in various regions and the homeless suffer from the cold. In Minsk, the city administration has taken...
The Belarusian government prides itself on having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world. But the official statistics do not reflect the realities on the ground. The actual number of unemployed people is much higher than the...
In 2011, Belarus lost more than a quarter of its cows. Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich, revealed this sad fact a week ago. He was bluntly exposing his country's illusory economic successes at a meeting with his colleagues. One of...
Later this month Belarusian authorities plan to negotiate with the IMF a new $3.8bn loan to refinance its existing debt to the organization. With generous subsidies from Russia, the government managed to stabilize the situation in the Belarusian economy...
