Belarus
wiiw hikes 2021 CEE growth forecast to 5.4%
Growth is predicted to fall to 3.7% in 2022 and 3.5% in 2023 because of base effects, monetary tightening and more significant external headwinds.
Russia’s coronavirus spike threatens the whole region
Vaccine scepticism means just under a third of the Russian population is vaccinated and the government admitted last week that it had “lost the information campaign” to persuade its people to take the pandemic seriously.
Perspectives | Russia’s (not so free) trade agenda
Recurring import bans by the Russian agricultural watchdog attest to a problem with Moscow’s idea of free trade.
Belarus' GDP 3% up in January-August, foreign trade surplus at record high
In January-August 2021 Belarus' GDP rose by 3%, while the foreign trade surplus exceeded $2bn and beat the record of the year 2013.
Belarus' gold, forex reserves down by 0.4% to $8.5bn in September
Belarus' gold and foreign currency reserves totalled $8,459.9bn as of 1 October, 2021, according to the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) preliminary data, reports BelTA.
Inflation in Belarus at 1.3% in September
In September 2021 the index of consumer prices for goods and services totalled 101.3% as against August 2021 and 107.5% as against December 2020, according to the National Statistics Committee of Belarus.
Poland extends state of emergency on border with Belarus until end of November
Government weaponises refugees as threat to Poles, while opposition accuses it of violating international law by not allowing them to file for protection.
Belarusian KGB officer killed in shootout with protester
A Belarusian KGB officer was killed in a Minsk shootout during an attempt to arrest US citizen Andrei Zeltser for protesting on September 28.
bneGREEN: Green Deal, CBAM poses high risks to poorer African, Eastern European countries
The EU’s Green Deal and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism will hit the EU’s trading partners in Africa and non-EU Eastern Europe particularly hard.
Russian Softline pursues international expansion in Baltic states, Belarus, Egypt
Softline, an international solution and service provider with Russian roots, is pursuing its international expansion with two deals announced this month.
Belarusian opposition leaders Maria Kolesnikova and Maksim Znak were sentenced to over a decade in jail
Belarusian opposition leaders Maria Kolesnikova, who campaigned with Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in last year’s presidential election, and lawyer Maksim Znak were sentenced to 11 year and 10 years respectively for allegedly plotting a coup.
Poland declares state of emergency along border with Belarus to stem migration
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda declared a state of emergency along the border with Belarus on September 2 in an attempt at stemming illegal migration from Belarus.
bneGREEN: CBAM to have less bite than bark
The cost of the EU’s proposed CBAM may turn out to be less than initially feared by exporters into the EU, a new report from Sandbag and E3G, two pro-green think-tanks, have found.
bneGREEN: Will the Belarus NPP become the elephant in the room for Lithuania?
Lithuania has passed legislation to ban electricity imports from Belarus, but power from Lithuania’s hostile and unpredictable neighbour keeps trickling across the border through four 330-kV interconnectors.
Belarus' flower man given 8.5 years in jail, tells court of his harrowing treatment and torture
A year ago Stepan Latypov (Stsyapan Latupau) went down to one of the main squares in central Minsk and started to hand out flowers to the women he met there. He was later arrested, beaten and finally sentenced to 8.5 year in jail.
Belarus to get $1bn as part of the IMF's $650bn SDR bonanza
The embattled regime of President Alexander Lukashenko is due to receive the equivalent of $1bn from the IMF as part of its $650bn Special Drawing Rights giveaway to help struggling economies.
MOSCOW BLOG: No easy way out of the Belarusian crisis as West hits Minsk with fresh sanctions
On the anniversary of the fraudulent presidential elections that plunged Belarus into its worst political crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union, Washington and London ramped up their sanctions regimes.
Harsh US sanctions on Belaruskali to have limited impact due to loophole
The US handed down some of the harshest sanctions yet on Belarus and its leading companies and banned doing any business with potash producer Belaruskali. But a loophole in the regulations means its business won't be badly affected.
ASH: Confusion over the details of the new Belarus sanctions but they will work
Putting a few concluding remarks around the latest Western sanctions iteration around Belarus. There is some confusion around what has been done, or not, but the bottom line is the screw has tightened and western firms are unlikely to do business.
