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MFA: Belarus deals with side effects of sanctions better than EU

MINSK, 16 December (BelTA) - Belarus has coped with the side effects of sanctions better than the European Union, Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuri Ambrazevich said as he addressed a meeting of the Advisory Council for Belarusians Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, BelTA learned.

He stressed that the sanctions remain the most difficult and pressing issue for many countries.

"Over the past three years, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and a number of other countries have imposed several packages of very severe comprehensive sanctions against our country, which affect entire sectors of the Belarusian economy. Since 2020, the Western states have adopted 219 restrictive measures against Belarus at the state level," Yuri Ambrazevich said.

He also pointed out that under the sanction pressure, the Belarusian enterprises have built new supply chains and found new suppliers and markets. As a result, Belarus is expected to outperform the results of the pre-crisis year of 2021 in terms of GDP.

"We have seen a paradoxical situation when Europeans have coped with the negative effects of sanctions worse than we have," the diplomat noted. "We realize that the sanctions will not be lifted quickly and easily. No one will lift them from Belarus amid the similar sanctions against Russia."

Therefore, Belarus has deliberately re-directed industrial cooperation and foreign trade towards Russia and other CIS countries, China and the geographically distant countries. Despite the increasing sanctions pressure, Belarusian exports continue to grow, the social sector remains stable, the real disposable income of people has increased, the unemployment rate has decreased.

"Belarus is expected to earn over $8 billion on food  exports this year," Yuri Ambrazevich added.

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