MINSK, 31 August (BelTA) – Belarus has started increasing the industrial output that dropped due to the coronavirus pandemic, Belarus Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Nazarov told the Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.
The pandemic has had a negative impact on the industrial sector, Yuri Nazarov noted. In January-July 2020, Belarus' industrial output came at 97.5% in comparable prices as against the same period of 2019. “We are falling short of the last year's level. However, we have already started recovering. We performed better in July as against June. There has been some growth. The industrial output and sales have increased, the markets have started to revive. Plans are in place to get back to the normal level by the end of the year,” the deputy prime minister said.
He mentioned the automobile engineering company BelAZ as an example. Before the pandemic, the enterprise had signed a major contract with an Indian company. “Due to travel limitations, BelAZ could not enter India to assemble and commission the vehicles. However, BelAZ signed a additional contract to supply more than 90 vehicles with a high carrying capacity to India. This proves that the markets have started to revive,” Yuri Nazarov said. BelAZ is currently completing the execution of the previous large contract with India.
Yuri Nazarov also spoke about the situation at the Belarusian steel mill BMZ. “At the start of Q2, the enterprise did not operate at full capacity as it had no orders. Prices fell, so the company performed worse than last year. As of now, the enterprise is operating at full capacity in almost all lines of business, except the one that is linked to the oil market that has not picked up yet. Most importantly, the prices have stabilized and even risen a bit,” he stressed.
