Dollar sold for Br16,500 at black market

Belarusians learn about the exchange rate at the black market from police reports.

According to Leanid Usheshyn, a spokesman for Minsk's Kastrychnitski district police station, a Minsk resident was detained by officers of the economic crime department for illegal currency exchange operations, Belsat reports.

“A man was detained as he was selling foreign currency,” a police officer says. “The subject of the deal was $5000, the exchange rate was Br16,500 per dollar. The detained man also had Br50 million on him.”

The police representative says the detained man was a company director.

Viktar Franskevich, the deputy head of the Financial Investigation Department at the State Control Committee, said earlier that offences related to illegal exchange operations “are not spread on a wide scale”.

“The measures taken recently by the National Bank and the government reduced the opportunities for large-scale activities of illegal currency traders to zero,” the representative of the State Control Committee noted.

A source from the business community told Interfax that illegal exchange operations with an exchange rate of Br16,500 per dollar are mutually beneficial.

“Exchange offices do not have enough foreign cash, so raising the official rate by Br1000-1500 seems reasonable,” he said.

On January 27, several exchange offices in Minsk had 1000 dollars and euros for sale, Nasha Niva reports. An office of BelVEB Bank near the central department store offered even 1500 dollars. Home Credit Bank said it was ready to sell any sum.

However, most banks sell only the foreign currency they buy from customers.