Leanid Zaika: Belarus's export doomed to collapse without innovative products

Living only on revenues from processed Russian oil is extremely dangerous.

Economist Leanid Zaika spoke to charter97.org about a decline in the oil products export revenues by $3.2 billion.

“Ordinary Belarusians shouldn't be upset, because living on the revenues from processed Russian oil is very dangerous. We can forget how to produce own goods. Belarusians won't be able to make computers, cars, up-to-date equipment and write programmes. They will just get oil and count money from oil products sales,” the head of the analytical centre Strategy said.

The expert noted the drop didn't affect only oil products exports. The country's total export fell 20%.

“Sales of meat, trucks and other things fell. The problem of the export decline is connected with the competitive ability of Belarusian products. In modernisation programmes, the export is the result of selling good state-of-the-art commercially viable products. Turn attention to the fact that the district-level elite that now rules the country organises a 'post flight analysis” at a wood processing plant and asks what plywood and pressed wood they produce and hears in reply that the plywood production technology is being upgraded. He then had 'show speeches' at the worsted factory. We live in the 21st century, but Belarus manufacturers plywood and cloth. It's clear now that if we don't pay attention to electronics in the export, we cannot offer any advanced products. We only can offer milk, tinned meat and marbled beef, which we cannot produce in a proper way. Where are Belarusian laptops and smartphones? We do not have them. That's why the export is declining. Plywood planes can probably fly, but not very far,” the economist says.

We remind that Belarus's revenues from the oil products export in the January to August period of 2013 declined by $3.234 billion (29.7%) to $7.662 billion compared to the same period in 2012.