Roman Golovchenko tells Al-Arabiya TV channel about friends and partners of Belarus

15 мая 2022
The fact that the world does not end in the West was confirmed in an interview to Al-Arabiya TV channel this week by Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko. He spoke about the record investment to the Belarusian economy in the first quarter of the year, despite the harsh sanctions. He also told about building a path to the East with long-term contracts, our interests in the market of the United Arab Emirates, and overcoming external pressure by Belarusian companies. 

What does the economy show and which countries are among our friends and partners? The journalist of the Arabic channel was interested in a wide range of issues. 

The Al-Arabiya satellite news channel is on the air round the clock. Headquartered in Dubai, with correspondents in many locations around the world, it broadcasts not only to Arab countries, but also to Europe, America, Asia and Australia. It estimates its audience at 23 million viewers. 

Belarus is fighting for its place in the world and is open for cooperation on equal grounds. The East has always been on the map of our multi-vector foreign policy. The current active reorientation towards this market is a movement to the place where we are expected. 

Roman Golovchenko, Prime Minister of Belarus:

It's more of a reorientation of our policy to where we're working with us in terms of mutual respect, benefit, partnership. We have tried to maintain equal and fairly symmetrical relations with all countries of the world. We are a small European state, we have no global political ambitions, but we want to have our place in this world. In this respect, as an export-oriented and open economy, intensification of work in all Asian regions, Africa, the Asia-Pacific Region, the Middle East, South America is of paramount importance for Belarus. These are all the countries which we consider as friendly to us.

Today the whole world economy is being swayed by sanctions against Belarus and Russia. Our country finds new customers when it loses old ones due to pressure from the outside and closed routes. At the same time, sanctions boomerang in the western direction. 

Roman Golovchenko, Prime Minister of Belarus:

We unambiguously interpret sanctions as a tool not just of pressure, but as a tool of hybrid aggression. This is the last stage that precedes the classical armed aggression. The purpose of sanctions, in contrast to their classical understanding, is to bring the country to its knees, to strangle us economically, and to achieve by force the fulfillment of requirements or conditions. This is what we are witnessing now. The sanctions have blocked almost all exports of Belarus to the European Union and North America. This amount is roughly equivalent to $16-18 billion a year. Naturally, we cannot lose this export volume and have to reorient it towards other markets. This is what we are currently working on. But we see the reverse processes happening in the world, the reverse side of the sanctions: these are problems with food, with fertilizers, with rising energy prices, with inflation. Sanctions are swaying the entire world economy.

The sanctions did not have an instant effect. In May, the Belarusian economy, as noted the Prime Minister, feels very confident. There is a drop in production and sales of goods that are subject to sectoral restrictions. But all the enterprises are in line, the balance of payments is positive and so is the export. The average sales profitability of our industrial goods is up to 10%. Today they are expected in distant markets. 

Roman Golovchenko, Prime Minister of Belarus:

“If we talk about the Gulf region, Belarus has friendly relations with all these states, especially with the United Arab Emirates. Several times the President of Belarus has visited them. When I was an ambassador of Belarus to the UAE, the President paid three visits. There were warm and friendly meetings with the leadership of the country, where the prospects of our work and cooperation were discussed. I will not say that the export of Belarus to the UAE is big. It always fluctuates around $80, $90 and $100 million mark, but we are gradually increasing deliveries.”