BELARUS

Total area: 207,600 sq km Population: 9.5 million Government type: Republic Administrative division: 6 regions (oblast) Capital + other major cities: Minsk (1.8 million) + Gomel (483,000), Mogilev (358,000), Vitebsk (348,000), Grodno (328,000), Brest (310,000) Currency: Belarusian ruble (BYR) Languages: Belarusian and Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian 83.7%, Russian 8.3%, Polish 3.1%, Ukrainian 1.7%, Jewish 0.1% Religion: Out of 2,466 religious communities - Christian Orthodox 66%, Jewish 26%, Roman Catholic 5%, Protestant 1.3%, Other (i.e. Muslim, Atheist) 1.7% President: (Mr.) Alexander Lukashenko (since 1994) Prime Minister: (Mr.) Mikhail Myasnikovich (since 2010)

MACROECONOMIC OVERVIEW

Selected economic indicators, Belarus, 2007 - 2011

		2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
GDP
Real GDP growth	%	8.7	10.3	0.2	7.6	5.3
GDP at current prices	€ bn	34.2	41.4	35.0	41.2	42.6
Foreign trade
Exports	€ bn	18.4	24.8	16.1	20.1	28.7
Imports	€ bn	21.5	29.5	21.4	26.2	30.1
Balance	€ bn	-3.1	-4.7	-5.3	-6.1	-1.4
Prices
CPI - average inflation rate	%	8.4	14.8	13.0	9.9	52.4
Employment
Registered unemployment	%	1.0	0.8	0.9	0.7	0.6
Average monthly gross wage	€	236	277	253	308
Exchange rates
BYR/USD average		2146	2136	2793	2978	4623
BYR/EUR average		2937	3134	3885	3950	6432

Source: National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus, CIA, The World Factbook 2012

STRUCTURE OF ECONOMY

The government of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has been keeping the country’s economy under a tight control since 1995. Since 2005, Lukashenko has re-nationalized a number of private companies. Moreover, new business regulations and constant pressure by central and local authorities have created additional difficulties for businesses as well as both domestic and foreign investors. Although before 2008, the country’s GDP growth was relatively strong, the global crisis pushed the country into recession in 2009, and GDP grew only 0.2% for the year. In 2010 the country’s economy started to recover, and the GDP grew by 7.6%, largely due to stronger exports. According to the CIS Interstate Statistical Committee during January-May 2011, Belarus was ahead of all CIS countries in terms of industrial output with a growth of 12.5 % compared to the same period in 2010.

In the first half-year of 2011 as compared to the same period last year, the National Statistics Committee of Belarus reports that Belarus recorded:
- GDP growth of 11 per cent
- 27.6% increase in the capital investments
- Real disposable incomes of the population growth of 12.4%
- Financial incomes of the population growth of 34.6%

Trade, services, and the industrial sector are the main sources of the country's economic development. The industrial sector accounts for 43% of the country’s GDP (2010). Belarus is considered to be one of the major agricultural producers in Europe. Belarusian agriculture specializes in animal farming (milk and meat products), flax, potato, grain and vegetable crops, sugar beets, rapes and fodder crops.


KEY SECTORS

The key industrial sectors include metallurgy, mechanical engineering (tractors and agricultural eauipment, cars, machine-tools and tools, instrument making, radio engineering, electro technical, electronic, optics-mechanical industry; and metal working), chemical and petrochemical, light industry and food industries.


EXPORT - IMPORT, MAIN TRADING PARTNERS

Even after collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus retained close political and economic ties to Russia which remains its leading trade partner (47%), followed by the UK (8.3%), Netherlands (6.7%) and Poland (5.3%).