Some of Belarus’ anti-sanctions measures announced
The President of Belarus has been reported today by the First Deputy Prime Minister, Nikolai Snopkov, who later announced the details of their conversation to journalists
Mr. Snopkov noted that, on the eve of the SCO Summit in Samarkand, he had informed the President of Belarus on the country’s co-operation with China. “The relationship is actually developing in a positive way, and this refers to the simplest matter: trade turnover. In seven months, our exports rose by 97 percent, and the positive balance increased by almost $700m. This is very important for us, taking into account preferential markets," the First Deputy Prime Minister explained.
According to Mr. Snopkov, finance is among the fundamental elements of Belarus’ co-operation with China, “The work is progressing actively and positively. Firstly, we are turning to debt payments in Yuans. Since Dollars and Euros [payments in these currencies] are problematic, Yuans are a comfortable currency, despite the fact that loans were initially denominated in Dollars. The UnionPay system will also be actively implemented: Belarusians will be able to pay within the country, in China and in more than a hundred countries around the world. In December, Belarusbank plans to start issuing cards.”
The First Deputy Prime Minister also informed that Belarusbank and later other financial institutions of the country (if they wish) will be connected to the CIPS Chinese international payment system. “This payment system is an alternative to SWIFT. As a result, a range of problems emerged due to the sanctions restrictions will be actually solved through China – by using Yuans and a payment system developed in China,” he noted.
During his talk with the President, a number of issues – planned to be discussed during Aleksandr Lukashenko’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping – were in focus. “Without getting ahead of myself, I can assert that these issues will raise our relations to a higher level. This is the way it is," Mr. Snopkov stressed.
