Zaika: Onishchenko's claims to Belarus amounts to carpet bombing

Russia's ban to import Belarusian milk and meat will be the strongest blow to Belarus's economy.

Economist Leanid Zaika spoke to charter97.org about claims of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance to Belarusian meat products.

“Firstly, it's possible that Belarus will lose nothing if it turns its export flows to Kazakhstan. Secondly, we had big $300mn supplies of frozen pork and beef to Russia. This is the approximate sum of Belarus's losses. It depends on the types of meat products that will be banned. We should not forget about the ASF outbreak in Belarus. If the ban affects only pork, Belarusian economy will lose 100-150mn dollars,” the expert said.

Russia's ban on exports of Belarusian dairy products will be the strongest blow to Belarus's economy, the economist stresses.

“Dairy products have a short storage life. Each of Belarus's 118 district has its own milk plant. The ban will amount to carpet bombing. I wrote about it and make reports at conferences in NATO countries. After that Russia expressed a desire to torpedo our milk supplies. Belarus may lose up to 1.2 billion dollars,” the economist thinks.

We remind that the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance reports about detection of unsafe meat products from Belarus.