Belarusian vehicle exports to Russia sag - Lukashenko

MINSK. July 31 (Interfax) - Belarusian exports of vehicles to Russia have decreased since the beginning of this year, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"In January-May, our goods exports to Russia sagged by $320 million for cars, tractors and combines," Lukashenko was quoted by the Belarus Today state news outlet as telling Belarusian heads of diplomatic mission on Thursday.

One of the Belarusian government's priorities is "to finally launch the unified industrial policy which so far only exists on paper, with access to tenders for selling equipment and overlapping production coordination," Lukashenko said.

Other priorities include developing new segments of the Belarusian economy, including aircraft- and shipbuilding, nuclear power and space manufacturing, developing multibrand and service centers, Belarusian trade houses in Russian regions, the president said. "In the end we are not ceding our share on the Russian market and we are fiercely defending [it] where we can by increasing sales and entrenching ourselves through cooperation and bespoke service," Lukashenko said.

"But, if the market is shrinking, if it's now Russian manufacturers going on standby and cutting staff (for example, Rostselmash, Yaroslavl Motor Plant), we won't solve our problems of exporting to Russia with the state's support alone. And we won't let any of our enterprises to 'wait it out' while the demand picks up. We need to diversify swiftly. Thank goodness, we have where into. There is someone to learn from, you can learn from Chinese," Lukashenko said.

Russia's share in Belarusian exports has reached 65%, he said. "In 2022-2024 we were able to redirect substantial volumes of shipments to the Russian market and to increase production and sales where Russians needed us to. Our biggest export growth in three years, at $10 billion, went to Russia," Lukashenko said.

"Today the Russian market is oversaturated, competition is tightening. It is being infiltrated by third-country goods, which are disguised as import-substitution, without any localization, and ousting our products. It should not be happening, that is not what we are creating our Union State for," Lukashenko said.