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Does Belarus stand a chance in a new oil war with Russia?
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The year 2016 left Belarus with a serious economic problem: its unresolved dispute with Russia over energy. On 9 January 2017, the Russian daily Kommersant revealed that Moscow will reduce oil supplies to Belarus from 4.5 to 4m tonnes in...
9 January 2017
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Investing in Belarus: a story of Lithuanian businessmen

While the governments of Belarus and Lithuania continue to clash over the construction of the Astraviec nuclear power plant, Lithuanian investors in Belarus are continuing to operate normally. Lithuanian businessmen became the largest Western investors in Belarus, adding more...

3 January 2017
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Under pressure from Eurasian Economic Integration – digest of the Belarusian economy

As of 26 December 2016, the oil and gas dispute between Belarus and Russia remains unresolved. Moreover, Russia persistently rejects any tradeoffs: this deprives Belarus of a substantial part its foreign exchange earnings from petroleum product sales, thus aggravating the...

1 December 2016
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Oil pessimism and manufacturing optimism – digest of the Belarusian economy

On 26 November Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko announced that the recession in the Belarusian manufacturing sector has ended. However, Belarusian banks strongly disagree with this statement. They yearn for more financially stable corporate borrowers, especially in the industrial...

15 November 2016
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How Belarusian oil imports change geopolitics in Eastern Europe

On 31 October, several years after imports of non-Russian oil into Belarus ceased, the first cargo train carrying Azerbaijani oil reached a refinery in the Belarusian city of Mazyr. Although the Belarusian government has so far imported only a limited...

2 November 2016
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Autumn of tough economic decisions – digest of the Belarusian economy

On 17 October 2016, new macroeconomic data from Belstat, Belarus's national statistical committee, indicated that this year's economic decline seems to have finally halted. The GDP stopped falling and foreign trade saw a slight revival. However, on 21 September the...

1 November 2016
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Foreign direct investments in Belarus: many words but few actions

The autumn of 2016 has seen many plans to boost investment in Belarus. On 17 September Minsk hosted the first Belarus-Oman business forum, while on 29-30 September the Belarusian capital hosted the Belarusian Forum: "Broadening Horizons. Investment. Finance. Development". Moreover,...

7 October 2016
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Money talks? Belarus’s quest for cash from the West

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in 2014, Belarus’s Foreign Minister, Uladzimir Makiej, criticised the imposition of “alien” political and economic models on his and other countries. He said that weaker states were given a choice: either they accept...

3 October 2016
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Russian oil blackout – digest of Belarus economy

On 14 September 2016 First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashka announced that negotiations on oil and gas relations between the Belarusian authorities and Russia's main economic players had failed. Meanwhile, the oil crisis has cast further uncertainty on...

19 September 2016
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Belarus’s private sector at a crossroads

On 7 September 2016 BEROC (Belarusian Economic Research and Outreach Center) held a seminar on private sector development in Belarus featuring presentations and debates from experts. Peter Arushanyants, Director of the Department of Entrepreneurship at the Ministry of Economy of...

30 August 2016
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Testing the Limits of Investment Crisis – Belarus Economy Digest

On 25 August 2016 the National Statistic Committee of Belarus (Belstat) publicised new macroeconomic data for July, which showed that the economy is suffering from a lack of investment flows. Meanwhile, according to the National Bank of Belarus the continuing...

15 August 2016
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Belarus Agriculture: Success Abroad, Failure at Home

On 7 August 2016 the Minister of Agriculture and Food of Belarus Leanid Zayats announced that the country received $11m per day between January and June 2016 for exporting its agricultural products; this accounted for 18 per cent of...

12 August 2016
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Is Belarus Turning away from the Socially-Oriented State Model?

On 5 August 2016, Andrei Labovich, First Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Belarus, said that the new Law on Employment would tackle the problem of the ‘professional’ unemployed. Simultaneously, in August 2016 the National Statistical Committee of...

8 August 2016
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The Midterm Exam for the Economy: Digest of Belarus Economy

On 19 July 2016 the National Statistic Committee of Belarus (Belstat) has announced the macroeconomic results of the first half of the year. The figures disappoint – economic growth still in the red zone. Moreover, the Eurasian Development Bank has...

8 July 2016
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A New Big Potash Deal between Belarus and China?

June 2016 became a breakthrough month for the potash industry in Belarus. The state-owned company “Belaruskali” managed to sign two long-awaited contracts with two major potash consumers – India and Bangladesh. However, the main news came from China: on June...