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5.2.1 Import/export dynamics
Belarus and the European Union may restore the record high mutual trade of $26.9bn that was last seen in 2012, Belarus Prime Minister Sergei Rumas said during a meeting with the European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources Gunther Oettinger on 18 February, BelTA reports . “Belarus-EU relations have been vibrant recently. Last year we had good figures in bilateral trade. The Belarusian exports to the European Union grew 30%. If we continue like this, we will be able to reach the previous peak of 2012 ($26.9bn) in 2019,” Rumas said. Minsk is wooing the EU again as a backstop against an increasingly tumultuous relationship with Russia. Belarus will always be a reliable partner for the European Union and hopes that this approach in the bilateral relations will be reciprocal, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said during a meeting with Oettinger. “I want to assure you that Belarus always pursues a balanced and well-considered policy in relations with its neighbors. We believe that neighbours are given to us by God, we do not choose them. With this in mind, we will always be a reliable partner for the European Union, and you should not be concerned about the Belarusian direction (almost 1,500km). Of course, we want such feelings to be reciprocal,” Lukashenko said. The European Investment Bank has agreed on €110mn worth of investment projects for Belarus. Belarus has been developing cooperation with the EBRD. Belarus knows that the European Union is going to adopt a new budget for 2021-2027 and plans to expand financial cooperation with the neighboring countries. Rumas expressed hope that Belarus will also take part in joint programs with the European Union. Belarus has intensified negotiations on accession to the World Trade Organization and hopes for the support from the European Union, the negotiations with, which are still underway. “We hope that the EU's position will be constructive and we will be able to complete it as quickly as possible,” the head of government added. The European Union is the second biggest market for Belarusian products. The EU accounted for 30.2% of Belarus' export in 2018 (26.8% in 2017). Last year Belarus-EU trade amounted to $17.3bn, up by nearly 20% over 2017. The Belarusian import made up $7.1bn, up 7.4% year-on-year.
Belarus' crop exports reached $500mn in 2018, up by 16% over 2017,
Aleksei Bogdanov, Head of the Central Office for Foreign Economic Activities of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry, told the media ahead of the third international forum “Agriculture in Belarus”, BelTA has learned. “We did a great job last year. The exports of crop products totalled $500mn, up by 16% as against 2017. Thus, for the past three years we ramped up exports from $380mn to $0.5bn. We set this task when we conducted the first forum, and we met this goal,” Aleksei Bogdanov said. Drivers behind the export growth were fresh vegetables ($187.5mn, up by 6% from 2017), flax ($19.6mn, up by 21%), pears and apples ($18.7mn, up by 47%). “Our export of flax fibers to China went up by 51% in physical terms,” Aleksei Bogdanov said. Potato exports decreased by 28%.
Belarus bears the greatest costs from the existing barriers in the Eurasian Economic Union , Tatyana Valovaya, the Minister for Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission, said Moscow on 28 January, BelTA report. “I will cite some approximate figures. In terms of GDP Belarus' share in the total gross domestic product of the Eurasian Economic Union is approximately 3.6%. But if we analyze the country's share in terms of export, then it hovers somewhere from 25% to 30%,” the minister
18 BELARUS Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com