MINSK, 28 October (BelTA) – Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Nazarov disclosed the measures Belarus is implementing in response to the sanctions during a joint meeting of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic in the Oval Hall of the Government building, BelTA has learned.
“To counter the sanctions and minimize their impact, the government set up an interdepartmental working group consisting of representatives of 17 ministries and departments, including the Belarus President Administration, the State Secretariat of the Security Council, the State Control Committee, the KGB and the National Bank. The working group charted out a number of steps to respond to the sanctions,” Yuri Nazarov said.
According to him, targeted measures were taken immediately in the manufacturing, petrochemical, transport and banking sectors to normalize their financial and economic operation. As a result, despite the sanctions, MAZ and BELAZ grew their exports by almost $250 million compared to last year; the export of petrochemical products rose by $700 million and that of nitrogen and potash fertilizers by $100 million.
As far as oil refining is concerned, measures were taken to preserve the possibility of exporting petroleum products in the required amount and to provide Naftan with loans for uninterrupted purchases of oil in Russia and for carrying out current operations and investment activities. “These measures allowed maintaining the necessary workload at Belarus' both refineries. By the year-end, their annual processing load will make up 16.8 million tonnes, up nearly 0.5 million tonnes compared to last year,” the vice-premier said. In addition, the needs of the domestic market for petroleum products and petrochemical raw materials were fully met, and a 30-day reserve of petroleum products was created.
At present, Belarus and Russia are working to redirect Belarusian cargo transit from the Baltic states to Russia. “As to petroleum products, this scheme is already working, we have not lost anything in terms of logistics,” Yuri Nazarov noted. The enterprises affiliated with the Industry Ministry, which came under the sanctions, are looking for alternative suppliers of component parts, as well as alternative delivery routes. For example, BelAZ signed a contract with an alternative manufacturer for the supply of 139 engine sets. In addition, an arrangement was reached with Ural Diesel Motor Plant on the production of engines for BelAZ dump trucks.
The deputy prime minister emphasized that Belarus can substantially reduce the risks of non-delivery of component parts for the mechanical engineering industry if it starts producing own products under the import substitution program. A striking example is the efforts of Amkodor to localize the manufacturing of basic components and assemblies needed to produce forestry equipment.
In addition to that, Minsk Motor Plant in collaboration with a Chinese company is working on a project to produce engines with horsepower of 450 and higher to meet the needs of BelAZ, MTZ, Gomselmash and Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant.
Yuri Nazarov informed that MAZ and BelAZ filed a suit to European organizations. “Our applications have been accepted for consideration. We demand that the restrictive measures taken by the European Union against these companies be canceled,” he said.
The deputy prime minister also recalled that the National Council for Labor and Social Affairs - a tripartite dialogue platform of the government, trade unions and employers - had decided to hold the international conference “The Impact of Global Economic Challenges on Social and Labor Rights” to assess the application of unilateral sanctions. This conference was held in Minsk in September and brought together about 400 delegates from 15 countries, including representatives of the UN, diplomatic corps, international associations and leading experts in the field of international law.
“All conference participants share the view that unilateral coercive sanctions are illegal. As a result of the forum, two important documents were adopted. The first one is the expert opinion that spells out what international documents were breached, from the UN Charter and resolutions to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The second one is the resolution of the conference, which confirms the illegal nature of the sanctions and supports the idea of a joint response of the EAEU member states to external economic pressure. These documents can lay the groundwork for efforts to protect our citizens from illegal actions of the European Union and other countries that impose and support sanctions,” Yuri Nazarov concluded.
