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the US," the document reads. "For this reason, the national emergency declared on June 16, 2006, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond June 16, 2018." The US administration is taking a tougher line on the former Soviet republic compared with the European Union (EU), which lifted most of its sanctions against Belarusian authorities in 2016, following a peaceful presidential election in October 2015.
Despite positive declarations about ending controls on milk and Putin’s recent visit to Minsk, tensions remain high between Russia and Belarus. Rosselkhoznadzor and the Department of Veterinary and Food Inspection of Belarus have agreed to a “road map” on lifting mutual restrictions, but the plan does not include a concrete timeline. Per the agreement, Rosselkhoznadzor has removed earlier restrictions on four Belarusian meat and animal feed producers, however, the dairy ban remains in place. Sergei Sidorsky, the Eurasia Economic Commission’s Minister for Industry and Agriculture (and former PM of Belarus), called Russia’s restrictions and bans on products traded within the Eurasian Economic Union “illegal.”
A corruption scandal in the Ministry of Health has led to a series of arrests of high-ranking officials up to the level of deputy minister. Officials from the Center for Expertise and Testing reportedly orchestrated a scheme of importing second-hand equipment from Germany, overestimating its value, and supplying Belarusian hospitals with it while pocketing the difference having sold it as “new”. According to the Interior Ministry, the suspects substituted shipping documents and inflated the price of the equipment by 2-3 times, and sometimes - up to 14 times. Much of the imported equipment was recertified as produced by the domestic manufacturer Belmedtechnika, which is managed by the brother of an influential general who is a close confidant of President Alexander Lukashenko. The Ministry’s investigation resulted in the arrests of at least 12 officials. This crackdown comes on the heels of a series of arrests for bribery, including president Sergey Rovnieko’s assistant who took a bribe of $200,000.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced plans to increase investment in Belarus by 2020, with over EUR 1bn planned for the coming years. In addition to financing projects to improve local government and promote green energy, the EBRD is participating in the privatization of major Belarusian banks Belinvestbank and Moscow-Minsk Bank. EBRD reforms will help address some of these problems if they continue to be implemented in hopes of addressing structural inefficiencies in Belaru's largely state-run economy.
3.0 Macro Economy 3.1 Macroeconomic overview
Belarus' GDP grew by 4.7% y/y in January-May , following 4.8% y/y growth in January-April and a 5.1% y/y growth in January-March, the national statistics agency Belstat reported on June 15. The economy is recovering mainly thanks to the ongoing recovery in neighbouring Russia, the country's main trade partner. Belarus' GDP grew by 2.4% y/y in 2017 after two years of recession. It contracted 3.9% y/y in 2015 following 1.6% y/y growth in 2014. In April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised
4 BELARUS Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com