Belaruskali, MAZ and Belarusian Metallurgical Plant faced problems

Big Belarusian exporting enterprises have faced problems caused by the financial crisis.

Among them are Belaruskali potash fertilisers company, the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ), the Minsk Tractor Plant (MTZ) and the Belarusian Metallurgical Plant. Workers fear mandatory leave and pay pause.

Syarhei Zakharevich, a head of the trucks marketing department at MAZ, confirmed to Euroradio that the enterprises had really had problems with sales. A manager with Potash fertilizer giant Belaruskali also noted problems with abroad sales but stressed that Belarusian exporting enterprises would meet real crisis later.

"An economic crisis is a way off but there is a recession. The economic crisis will occur in the future. All exporters have had difficulties as a result of the recession. We also had them," the Belaruskali executive told.

According to him, the company won’t be able to avoid financial losses due to the drop in production.

Vasil Andreyevich, deputy director of the Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ) gave more categorical estimation of the situation at the enterprise.

“We don’t know any crises, we work as usual,” Vasil Andreyevich said.

However, an MTZ worker notes that though they are working as usual, they can’t sell production.

“Tractors are not sold as briskly as before now. Russia has been buying fewer tractors because of the crisis. We had slow periods like this, but not in the last few years," the MTZ worker said.

According to him, no unpaid leaves are expected, but payments will likely to be delayed.

“There are no problems with pay, but rumours appear they may happen,” the worker said.

Managers at the Naftan oil refinery say their work has become easier as the crisis began.

“From one hand crisis means difficulties, but the situation is different on the other hand. Oil has become cheaper, so we need less resource to buy it. We depend on oil, it is easier to work now,” Naftan said.

However, this hasn’t influenced the salaries of workers of the company.

According to Nadzeya Harkusha, deputy director general of the Belarusian Metallurgical Plant (BMZ), the company was waiting for the global crisis. Managers combat it with economy. “The management takes measures to cut costs. But we have always done so. We do not take other measures except for those necessary to forestall the effects of the global situation on the staff. We are still coping. Frankly speaking we expected the crisis,” Nadzeya Harkusha said.

However, she admitted certain difficulties with sales.

Who missed crisis?

Problems of the Minsk Tractor Plant, Belaruskali company, BelAZ truck plant, Hrodna Azot company and Belarusian enterprises with sales at foreign market have evoked interest of the Belarusian government only now, when enterprises have begun to reduce working ours and staff. In the view of experts of Zavtra Tvoei Strany, if the Belarusian authorities had turned their attention to this tendency at the very beginning of the global financial market, many negative things could have been avoided.

In any case, in July, rather significant decline in currency gain of machine building and agriculture caused by low buying power at main sales market was noticed in July.

For instance, at the Minsk Tractor Plant, exported amounted to 148.1 million dollars in June 2008, in July is fell to 139.1 million. In August, the last pre-crisis month, exports decreased again to 130 million dollars.

Sales in other Belarusian main exporting sectors declined in a similar way in July–August. Trucks supplies amounted to 103.4 million dollars in June, 99.8 million in July, and 91.4 million dollars in August. A more vivid decline was seen in agricultural equipment export: it was sold at a sum of 20.50 million dollars in June, 14.6 million in July, and two times less, 8.1 million dollars, in August. Belarusian engines exports decreased, too: from 2.4 million dollars in June to 13.7 million dollars in August. Delivery of Important items of export, casein (from 17.5 million dollars t o10.3 million dollars) and beef (from 10.2 to 7.8 million dollars) have fallen.

According to experts of Zavtra Tvoei Strany, this tendency must have disquieted the government. But they were careless about the coming danger. Instead of trying to optimise the work activity and adjust plans, enterprises continued increasing industrial output to fulfil year’s tasks.

As October statistics shows (and will become more clear within next months, experts suppose), that this mistake and mood of an ease victory, which can still be seen, may cost much for the Belarusian economy. Growing stock reserves, frozen credit operating assets, received for energy and materials, were just a forerunner of bigger economic and social shock in the country.