MINSK, 14 October (BelTA) – The market economy status will bring both trade and image benefits to Belarus, the Economy Ministry told BelTA as it commented on Council of Ministers' Resolution No.690 of 9 October 2019.
Under resolution No.690, the Belarusian Economy Ministry has been instructed to use the single-source procurement procedure and purchase legal services from Crowell & Moring law firm that will help with the transition process of Belarus to the market economy status.
According to the ministry, the status of a non-market economy was automatically inherited by Belarus after the collapse of the USSR. This status allows the U.S. government to apply restrictive customs and tariff measures to certain types of Belarusian products, making their export economically impractical.
The status of the economies of Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania has already been successfully revised.
“Due to the development of Belarus-United States relations and strengthening of business ties, there is a need to review such an approach so that Belarusian exporting companies and American investors in our country could enjoy a non-discriminatory regime in trade,” representatives of the Economy Ministry explained. “Belarus proceeds from the understanding that the Belarusian economic policy has been in line with market principles for many years, so the revision of the status of our economy by the U.S. Department of Commerce will formalize what exists de facto.”
Apart from obvious economic benefits, the revision of the status will benefit greatly to the image of Belarus in the international trade system and will contribute to the formation of Belarus' balanced commitments in the WTO accession process.
This issue may be resolved through a review of the economic status of Belarus by the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is carried out using the services of international law firms and takes approximately one year.
“This year the Economy Ministry of Belarus and Crowell&Moring are expected to sign an agreement on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington,” the ministry said.
