The state of affairs in the transport sector was discussed today at the Palace of Independence. The report delivered by the Minister of Transport and Communications was presented to the President. The industry plays an important role in the Belarusian economy. The transit status of our country contributes to the profitability of the transport sector. Its share in the GDP is about 6 percent. In fact, this is half of the revenues the country earns from the export of services. That is why it is important to use the road potential to the maximum. This year it is more difficult than usual. In May, European air carriers stopped flying over Belarus. Belavia had to suspend flights to many Western destinations. The sanctions also affected the implementation of important infrastructure projects. But the President is confident - this is a window for new opportunities.
The country is not going to change the highway reconstruction program. According to the head of the Ministry, financial sources to implement major projects to replace the European ones have already been found. The deadlines will not have to be significantly delayed. But the President demands to pay more attention to local roads, national roads are almost put in order. There is still a lot of work to be done in some areas. In particular, people should not have problems when traveling to agrarian towns. Another requirement of Alexander Lukashenko was barrier-free access of Belarusian goods to foreign markets.
Alexei Avramenko, Minister of Transport and Communications of Belarus:
An agreement with the Russian Federation was signed in February. In fact, we have transported about one million tons of oil products to Russian ports since February. Accordingly, we have an alternative. These are the ports of Leningrad Region, Murmansk. Therefore we will respond very quickly to any changes or additional limitations on transportation of potash fertilizers.
On the whole, despite the sanctions, the industry has maintained a positive trend. We managed to prevent a drop in passenger traffic. The transport services increased. Transport workers have earned about two billion dollars in the first half of the year. They expect to maintain this rate at the end of the year as well.












