The economic integration between Belarus and Russia ranges from petrochemicals to customs, the mitigation of the tax manoeuvre and a solidary response to sanctions and political pressure. One of the main topics of the week were the two-day talks between Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin in Sochi. A big talk on the results of the Sochi negotiating marathon took place in Minsk on Tuesday.
The government calculated the maximum amount of damage from the Western sanctions and assured that they will be fully compensated at the expense of the aggressor countries. Measures range from protectionism to technological substitution (switch to Russian and Asian technologies instead of the European ones). In terms of quality they are the same, but without the political subtext and sanctions.
On Friday, Russian ambassador to Belarus Yevgeny Lukyanov reported that another union integration prograjmme had been agreed. The new integration model promises to add 4 to 6% to the union GDP, as estimated the economists. This alone outweighs all possible damage from pressures from the West, believes political analyst Andrey Krivosheev.












