What Money of the Belarusians Are Spent on?

It seems that Lukashenka pays "a tribute to the Horde".

At a meeting with the leadership of the main law enforcement agencies Lukashenka recalled that he had already instructed the Prosecutor General to organize work on recover of the overdue receivables of foreign partners to Belarusian business entities. Judging by his words, the order remained unfulfilled: "Today we take loans at certain interest rates, and many hundreds of millions of dollars stay outside the country - unpaid for goods and services rendered."

"In this regard, there are questions. Why is the order not fulfilled? Who is to blame? What to do? Can anything be done at all?", famous Belarusian journalist Kanstantyn Skyratovich writes for Nashe Mneniye.

When agreeing upon terms of a transaction, specialists propose to provide for a full advance payment in a contract. But it is not possible in practice. For example, it is not possible to require a full prepayment when a long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation is intended. Especially when there are competitors who do not insist on prepayment.

"In general, there are many details that can ruin the most profitable transaction. For example, a counterparty agreed to pay on actual basis refuses to pay for various reasons or, as it happens, just disappears from the economic and legal space. Nothing personal, it's just business!", the journalist notes.

But it is surprising that Lukashenka is always outraged by the growth of overdue accounts receivable, but avoids mentioning overdue accounts payable (indebtedness of Belarusian organizations), which is a receivable for its counterparties. And if you look at the statistics, it turns out that business partners demonstrate equal treatment to their obligations. As of July 1, 2017 the overdue amount of Belarusian organizations (accounts payable) amounted to BYN977.3 million, and the debt of foreign organizations (accounts receivable) - BYN974.3 million.

Of course, the statistical data characterizes the general state of the problem (specific economic subjects enter into partnerships), so we can say that contractors pray to Christ and Mamon, depending on circumstances. For example, the overdue debt of Belarusian organizations to partners in the CIS is BYN323.2 million, and those owe Belarusians BYN 554.9 million. It is 1.7 times more. But allies on the customs union take the first position. Belarusian firms owed BYN3.9 million to Kazakhs, while their overdue payment amounted to BYN55 million. Russia does the same. Subjects of its economy owed Belarusian organizations BYN425 million. Belarusians are trying to give them an adequate answer, but they have managed to refuse timely payment of their goods only for BYN281.8 million.

Partnerships with Ukrainian firms are good. Within six months accounts receivable to Belarusian organizations amounted to BYN22.7 million, while Belarusians overdue their debt by BYN24.4 million. It is noteworthy that there is the war waging in Ukraine and it requires more responsibility.

"Russians do not rush to pay for Belarusian goods. And it is not possible to demand a full prepayment or to pay on time. It is our largest and almost the one our purchaser who can refuse to use our products at all," Kanstantyn Skuratovich mentions.

In general, based on the data presented in the article, it may seem that the ruler of Belarus pays "a tribute in furs to the Horde", and money and efforts of the Belarusians go to illimitable space of the eastern neighbor.