"Lukashenko Has Been Scratching His Head For Years Now"

What's wrong with Belarusian firewood and pellets?

The Belarusian leader complained that Poland, Lithuania, and other neighbors are “digging in their heels” and refuse to “buy at a reasonable price” firewood and fuel pellets (woodworking waste compressed into granules: sawdust, wood chips, bark, etc. — ed.), even though these products have become more expensive there.

Apparently, for some reason, they don’t want to participate in a profitable trade deal and are refusing. And if that’s the case, then let them blame themselves.

“We won’t be able to sell to them tomorrow,” Lukashenko threatened. Why? Because “we need that cow for ourselves.” According to him, Belarus has “begun switching to these firewood and pellets on a massive scale,” and they “will be needed for ourselves.”

Such alarming predictions raise quite a few questions: Will there be no electricity or gas? Or will there be some, but not enough? Or does Lukashenko know something we don’t yet know?

In response to these questions, “Solidarnast”, chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions and a member of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization , Alexander Yaroshuk explained that it all comes down to economic sanctions.

– Until 2022, Belarus was one of the main exporters of firewood and pellets to Europe. The country has built up enormous production capacity for these products. Of the 31 million metric tons of pellets produced worldwide, 900,000 metric tons come from Belarus.

After the sanctions were imposed, European countries refused to buy pellets and firewood from us. And for several years now, Lukashenko has been scratching his head, wondering what to do with this fuel. At first, he claimed that the Europeans would “come to their senses,” realize they had nowhere else to go, and start buying again. But they still haven’t “come to their senses,” so the problem remains unresolved.

The authorities are trying to circumvent the sanctions by selling pellets through third countries, specifically Turkey. But it’s not working out very well. That’s why an attempt is now being made to use pellets and firewood domestically, replacing traditional energy sources—electricity and gas.

Perhaps something will work out. But let’s not forget that production volumes were primarily intended for export. And it’s hardly possible to use all the pellets and firewood produced domestically. Even at subsidized prices, the population purchases only small amounts of this fuel.

The export of firewood and pellets is one of many problems caused by the short-sighted policies of the current regime, which has supported Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Taken together, these issues cast serious doubt on the future of both the government and the country as a whole—assuming this government manages to remain in power.

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