Expert: Belarus can trade with anyone at minimal cost thanks to Russian logistics

Transport logistics is key to re-orienting Belarusian exports to the collective East and the Global South. By 2025, St. Petersburg ports are expected to provide transhipment for 15 million tonnes of Belarusian goods. Russian railway lines are also of great use, as well as shipments to China via the Northern Sea Route, North – South and East – West transport corridors. Doctor of Economics Valery Bainev, Professor of the Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Belarusian State University, talked to sb.by about why Belarus is interested in developing those transport lines.

“Anti-Russian sanctions were the thing that surprised me the most. How can you expect to isolate an enormous country, the huge Eurasian hub of our planet? The BRICS Summit in Kazan demonstrated that it’s not possible,” said the expert.

“Thanks to Russian logistics, Belarus can make contact and trade with any countries, including China and India, while suffering minimal costs. The value of the Northern Sea Route couldn’t be more obvious: it makes carrying goods between continents faster, cheaper, and safer. Belarus is interested in those transport corridors, because our goods and services are mainly export-oriented. We have to develop our economy and trade, and the West is not the be-all and end-all for us. We have partners who are better, closer, and wealthier. We make our logistics through them. Russian roads, railways and sea ports will not turn away from Belarus, their closest ally,” he added.

economy Bainev