Belarusian agricultural and processing industries are set to export foodstuffs worth more than $6 billion this year, Belarus' Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Aleksei Bogdanov told the STV TV channel, BelTA has learned.
According to Aleksei Bogdanov, in January-August 2021 Belarus exported $4.1 million worth of agricultural products, up 10.8% year-on-year. “By the end of the year, Belarusian food exports are expected to exceed $6 billion,” he said.
Commenting on a possible impact of European sanctions on Belarus' exports, the deputy minister noted that Belarus “diversified its foreign trade a long time ago, so that no country would be able to do anything against us”. “And no sanctions will affect us,” Aleksei Bogdanov added. He cited quite interesting statistics: Belarusian food supplies to the EU increased by 43%.
In addition, Belarus is now actively exploring the CIS market and the Asian market. This year exports to China rose by 40% over the previous year (the export was estimated at $216 million).