MINSK, 7 June (BelTA) - A set of measures in response to Western sanctions is ready, Belarus' Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said in an interview to Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.
“We hope that the emotions will cool down and those calling for sanctions will weigh up the interests of their business in Belarus. If we analyze all of the president's statements over the past decades in all international forums, we would see that they have always included the following things: we want peace and harmony in the region, we advocate the belt of good neighborliness, we want to build equal partnerships. We have always done our best for that. However, if it is about damage to our companies, we have every right to compensate for that damage. A set of measures in response to sanctions has been worked out,” said Roman Golovchenko.
According to the prime minister, a large number of foreign companies operate in Belarus, including those from the countries pursuing a particularly unfriendly policy. “They can lose our market. It may not be that big, but the volume of annual investment imports from the EU amounts to billions of US dollars. We would like Western politicians to think about the fate of these businesses,” he said.
“Of course, we will have to move away from Western goods, from Western technologies. We know what to replace them with, we know the suppliers, and we are ready to refocus. The technology gap is minimal today. We are ready to switch to Asian technologies, which have been moving forward by leaps and bounds over the past few decades. According to preliminary estimates, China alone can replace 90% of European and American technologies. We are also talking about Russian technologies, which have been actively developing,” said Roman Golovchenko.
“We are ready to apply special protective measures to our market. This pertains not only to investment imports to Belarus but also to consumer goods. We have all the powers to act to protect our interests,” the prime minister said.
Roman Golovchenko also said that support would be provided to all segments of the population, which could be affected by sanctions.
