FM Makei unveils Belarus' losses from dirty oil and fuel export restrictions

Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei​/Euroradio
Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei​/Euroradio

Exports of Belarus decreased by $2 billion 55 million due to Russian restrictions on the export of oil products and supplies of dirty oil, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs Uladzimir Makei, in 2019. He unveiled this information at the session of the Foreign Ministry Board, where the results of the work in 2019 were summarized.

The Minister stressed that Belarus clearly fulfilled its obligations to Russia, but the Russian side had changed the terms of trade. "Russia's introduction of restrictions on the export of petroleum products and dirty oil supplies has led to a $2 billion and 55 million reduction in the export of our oil-related goods. The growth in the rest of the product range was $1 billion 84 million, or 4.3%," BELTA news agency quoted Makei as saying.

The head of the Belarusian diplomacy stated that only 52.8% of losses in the oil sector were compensated by imports.

Last year export of goods and services amounted to $32.9 billion, which is 2.9% (or 970.5 million) less than in 2018.