| 11.10.2009 |
Financial Resources and Loans Are Most Important for Us
Recently, the Belarusian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, announced that favorable conditions exist for entering into a partnership with the European Union. At a Miensk meeting with European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, he stated, “Our desire to establish good relations with you is sincere, though some do not like it.” He suggested, “I think you won’t regret your visit to Belarus,” adding, “I’d like to have an absolutely sincere and honest dialogue,” (reports Interfax).. |
| 11.10.2009 |
Selling Belarus Family Jewels
Will Belarus's famous tractors be up for sale?
While the system constructed in Belarus over the last decade may not have been the most repressive in the post-Soviet world, it was certainly the most Soviet -- in terms of both the people that run it and the socioeconomic reality. |
| 11.10.2009 |
Belarus, Russia Solve Milk Row, Other Problems Loom
MINSK (Reuters) -- The end to a "milk war" bedeviling relations between Belarus and Russia could prove a mere truce masking strategic differences over trade, recurring gas disputes, and Belarus's drive to move closer to the West. |
| 04.07.2009 |
Lukashenka Says Hes Ready To Consider Belarus Reforms
MINSK (Reuters) -- Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, long criticized as authoritarian in the West, said he could give suitably qualified opposition figures government jobs and make other political reforms demanded by Europe if this does not hurt the economy. |
| 04.07.2009 |
Zombie Economy
The recession has pulled the curtain back on Belarus’ unusual economic model as it limps along with cash injections from international organizations and Russia.
On the face of it, the economic crisis could be going worse for Belarus. |
| 25.03.2009 |
Belarus Devalues Its Currency
On January 2 residents of Belarus learned that the national currency—the Belarusian ruble (known locally as the zaichik or hare)—had been devalued by 20.5 percent against the US dollar, falling from around 2,200 to 2,650. In November and December the administration of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka had denied that such a move was in the offing. The announcement has not only derailed the vision of a unique Belarusian path in economic development, with progress linked to strong state intervention, but it has led to panic buying and uncertainty among the population as to what the new year will bring. |
| 25.03.2009 |
IMF Loan to be Used for Reforms
The US embassy in Minsk has called on Belarus to use the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s $2.46-billion loan for additional structural economic reform. |
| 25.03.2009 |
Elegant default
“Belarusian currency has devalued 4 times as much as Turkmen one, 1,000 times as much as Russian, 100,000 times as much as Lithuanian one. |
| 25.03.2009 |
Belarusians on a Shopping Spree
A sharp depreciation of the Belarusian ruble has resulted in long lines at Minsk currency-exchange booths and stores across the Belarusian capital. |
| 15.01.2009 |
Belarus Seeks Credit From IMF
MINSK (Reuters) - Belarus has requested credit from the International Monetary Fund to uphold stability and economic growth rates amid global crises, the central bank said on October 22. |
| 10.07.2008 |
Guess Who Controls the Tap?
Alyaksandr Lukashenka threatens to shut down oil and gas pipelines if the EU adopts U.S.-backed sanctions.
[The following article by Vladimir Solovyev, "Transit Threatened: Alyaksandr Lukashenka Blackmails EU With Russian Energy Resources," was published in the independent Moscow newspaper Kommersant on 15 May.] |
| 19.01.2008 |
Fairy Tales by Prakapovich
The authorities have lost their conscience completely. Yesterday Piotr Prakapovich, the chairman of the National Bank of Belarus again outraged Belarusians by the fantastic nature of the official statistic data. The country’s chief banker declared without a trace of embarrassment that in January-September of this year average monthly inflation reached 5.4%, or 0.6%. |
| 10.10.2007 |
Gas Row Raises Concerns For Economy’s Health
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom announced on August 1 that it will cut gas supplies to Belarus by 45 percent as of August 3 because of an unpaid gas bill of $456 million for deliveries in the first half of 2007. The move could be problematic for the government of hard-line President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. |
| 04.10.2007 |
Merchants of Freedom
Street vendors may succeed where international pressure has failed in Belarus, but they need support. |
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