Belarusian senator: The aim of the new sanctions is to get rid of unwanted competitors

MINSK, 12 August (BelTA) - The real purpose of the next package of sanctions is to muscle out the unwanted competitors from the economic space, member of the Council of the Republic, Deputy Director for Development at Conte Spa Valentin Baiko told BelTA.

“The topic of sanctions against companies and citizens of Belarus has re-entered the European agenda. It does not even matter what became the reason for spinning another loop of sanctions against our country. The important thing is that such an occasion has been found, and with its name on the lips they can compile new lists of undesirable people and invent new problems and difficulties for them. It is not surprising that competition sometimes takes the form of a trade war. In war, as they say, all means are good. Another surprising thing is that people, while talking about the good for the common people, bring the fight against the competitors to the level where the beneficiaries are certain companies and the victims are the citizens of the whole country. So what ideals are fought for, gentlemen? Whose interests are protected?” Valentin Baiko said.

According to the senator, the authors of the sanctions lists are hardly concerned about the welfare of the Belarusian people and the economic capabilities of Belarus to combat the pandemic and overcome its consequences. “Here the cleaning of the economic space from unwanted competitors may well be the real purpose of the next package of the sanctions. What should and can Belarus do in this situation? It should continue to work to strengthen its sovereignty, build economic capacity, develop national business, look for new markets for its products, and protect its market from those who close their markets to our companies. We, as a country, still have many goals ahead. So we keep going,” he said.