18:24 Sugar mill in Zabinka stalled

Russia's restrictions on the import of Belarus-made sugar have brought the local sugar mill, a major employer in the town of Zabinka, Brest region to the edge of crises, reports the Belarusian television channel ONT.

The mill's warehouses are storing more products than they normally produce within three months.

The mill's managers are frenzily looking for new markets, while the local athourities are already planning how to ease the affects of the possible unemployment of a huge number of people, if the mill is to come to a halt.

Belarus and Russia agreed during the talks in Moscow on January 17 that Belarus was to cut the exports of sugar almost twofold down to 180,000 tons. In 2008, Belarus will have to reduce supplies even further down to 100,000 tons per year.