MINSK, 1 August (BelTA) – Sometimes economic cooperation falls victim to political decisions, Maksim Yermolovich, the newly appointed Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration, told reporters, BelTA has learned.
“Economic cooperation sometimes falls victim to political decisions, which actually happened in the relations between Belarus and the United Kingdom,” Maksim Yermolovich said. Before his new appointment he was Belarus' ambassador to the UK.
Maksim Yermolovich emphasized that in his new role he will be in charge of economic matters: “The economy remains a priority. The head of state keeps saying that the economy should be our main area of concern. If the country has an effective economic system, it will be able to address all other problems, because the economy is really at the heart of everything,” he said.
“My task in the new role is to use my experience and knowledge in the financial system and diplomatic work in the UK in order to improve the performance of the entire economic system,” Maksim Yermolovich emphasized.
He noted that it would be difficult to use the established contacts with the UK due to the position taken by the government of this country. “Although it must be acknowledged that Belarusian products are in demand in the UK and are appreciated for their quality and price. Yet, sometimes economic cooperation, unfortunately, falls victim to political decisions, which happened in our relations with the United Kingdom. This is sad, because much has been done to build the relations where the two countries could benefit from bilateral trade and investment,” the diplomat continued.
He went on saying: “Unfortunately, the past two years have seen a setback in our cooperation and we had to address quite complex tasks related to the sanctions imposed by the EU and the UK, and now we have to work in the conditions when these sanctions are in force. I think that my experience of countering these sanctions will come in handy.”
Maksim Yermolovich emphasized that these sanctions are putting pressure on the Belarusian economy and it is necessary to make prompt decisions. “Together with the government, we must develop efficient solutions that will increase the efficiency of the entire economic system,” he concluded.
