Belarus' merchandise export to Russia at record high

The export of Belarusian goods and the work of the export facilitation commission were discussed as Ambassador of Belarus to Russia Dmitry Krutoi met with Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko on 26 December. The head of state had previously tasked the diplomat with identifying 75 main commodities, which represent approximately 70% of Belarus' export to Russia, and monitoring their export virtually on a monthly basis. “First of all, the president heard out results of the commission's work to support Belarusian export,” the ambassador said. “Certainly, the president was interested in physical volumes of export.”

This indicator is important because it allows finding out whether Belarus is losing presence in various niches on the Russian market, whether Belarus keeps up with the competition amid the parallel import that Russia practices, first of all, competition from Asian manufacturers.

“Pressure is serious [on the Russian market],” the ambassador pointed out. “You can see the growth rate of Russia's trade with China, India, other Asian countries. And this is why the president asked me directly whether our interests are being infringed, whether we are losing some commodity groups or product niches.”

According to the ambassador, out of the 75 commodity headings on the radar only eight have demonstrated slight reduction: the growth rate is below 100% in physical terms.

“One can say that it is a record high of the last few years,” Dmitry Krutoi stated. “On the whole, the growth rate of physical deliveries to Russia stands at 131% this year. The figure rose by 9 percentage points last year. Plus 31% this year. It is obvious that the overall situation looks good.”