Experts: Protests and Sanctions Have Already Hit the Leading Enterprises of the State Sector of Belarus

Soon, even more powerful levers of pressure will be used against the authorities.

The European Union is simultaneously preparing both an aid plan for the new Belarus and a new package of sanctions for the dictatorial regime. Support is intended for the future government, sanctions - for the current one, writes Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

The fact that the EU is completing the development of a "comprehensive" aid plan for Belarus, reported the press service of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. It became the subject of discussion during her online meeting with the Director-General of the Department of Neighborhood Policy and Negotiations for the Enlargement of the European Commission (DG NEAR) Maciej Popowski.

It is reported that the plan provides for "financial macro assistance for the Belarusian economy and support for political and economic reforms, including with the participation of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other international financial institutions." A prerequisite for providing assistance is a change of government. Aid will begin to flow during the transition period and after new free elections. It is expected that, in the near future, the work on the plan will be completed, and the EU will name the amount of support that can be discussed.

At the same time, the EU declares its readiness to adopt the fourth package of sanctions for the current authorities in the coming weeks. This was stated by the High Representative of the European Union for International Affairs Josep Borrell. He noted that the persecution of the Polish national minority was added to the repressions against dissent, and the EU intends to take all this into account when preparing the fourth package of sanctions. The adoption of this package, in which there are about 200 more names and several dozen enterprises, has already been announced more than once. Initially, it was going to take place in April, then on May 10, when the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the EU was held, now June appears as the nearest date.

At the same time, experts pay attention to the deep quality indicators in the Belarusian economy. In particular, to a sharp decline in the efficiency of leading enterprises in the public sector. For example, MAZ earned a profit of about $ 60,000, Belaruskali - about $ 200,000, and Hrodna Azot found itself at a loss. The authorities talk about the impact of the pandemic, experts talk about the role of the protests, and the former head of the Belarus High-Tech Park, Valery Tsapkala, who ran for the presidency, published his investigation, in which he claims that the authorities transferred money abroad through offshore companies.

In any case, there is no money in the economy, and this worsens such qualitative indicators of economic development as the budget deficit, the level of public debt, and the size of gold and foreign exchange reserves. There is no reason to expect an improvement in the situation. Moreover, the consequences of US sanctions against petrochemical plants will soon begin to affect.