Sidorski: Belarus' Economy Is Role Model

The authorities of Belarus have deliberately chosen a model of social market economy. They believe that it could and should be emulated throughout the former Soviet Union. This was stated by a member of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, Siarhiej Sidorski, at the conference ‘Problems and Prospects of the Belarusian Economy in the Context of the CES with Russia and Kazakhstan’ held in Moscow.

According to him, the confident socio-economic model of the Belarusian state has been moving and evolving for the entire period of the country’s independence.

Belarusian model’s stability was confirmed in times of crisis

“They criticize today that there’s too much of the state. It is a matter of debates and discussions like today to find out if it is much of the state or liberalization. In Belarus, the policy has paid off in full,” said Siarhiej Sidorski, the newspaper Respublika reports.

He noted that this was especially evident in times of crisis: the Belarusian economy advanced during the 1998 crisis amid the concomitant drop of other countries’ economies. The economy of Belarus experienced less pain during the 2008 crisis than other states.

“And what is most important in the economy, is that the development of human potential and intelligence goes hand in hand with the development of industrial enterprises. This is very important to understand when speaking about the benefits of the Belarusian economy,” Siarhiej Sidorski said.

From that angle, the transformation of programs, operating in the Union State and EurAsEC, was very important in order to raise the Belarusian companies to the fourth and then the fifth and sixth levels of technology.

According to Siarhiej Sidorski, one could have different approaches to the crisis. So far there has been no answer why it arose.

“The president of the country has given a clear and simple practical answer. We understand that we have developed all states of the Commonwealth by maintaining and developing our economy. One could have followed the same model, not developing the economy to suit the three states, as Belarus has always been committed to the integration of two, five states, and now to the Common Economic Space.”

Siarhiej Sidorski that in 2001-2002 Belarus used to make 11 thousand tractors and exported them, while today it manufactures 60-70 thousand tractors.

One can’t close markets

“We have been developing our economy and enterprises to operate in foreign markets of our strategic partners. And, speaking of the competitiveness of the Belarusian economy, we should not forget we are trading today not only with Russia, Kazakhstan, our five and the CIS, but with more than 168 countries around the world,” stated Siarhiej Sidorski.

He notes that the supply of goods outside the customs territory of the Eurasian economic space is a sort of certification, adaptation and validation of the quality and competitiveness of the products in foreign markets.

“Speaking about competitiveness of the Belarusian economy, we must bear in mind its export and domestic capacity in the former Soviet Union. Therefore, it is absolutely correct to say that we are willing to work in the Russian and Kazakh markets, while our colleagues — in our market. In this situation we should develop a joint industrial policy for our state,” said Siarhiej Sidorski.

According to him, the next step, which is creating a single labor market and a single capital market, depends on how well the CES partner countries will be able to single out the main thing that should stimulate the industrial and commercial enterprises in the domestic market.

“It is impossible and wrong to close markets from one another,” said Siarhiej Sidorski.

He called it right to move “from the commercial understanding to understanding of the importance of deepening economic integration as a strategic objective of collaboration.”

Everyone will benefit from this. The growth of the Belarusian export testifies to the fact that the resources, available to the CU states, are working for integration, said the EEC board member.

We departed from the agreed position by the customs tariff rates

Siarhiej Sidorski also touched upon the WTO issue.

“When we’re forming the Customs Union, we clearly understood that tough negotiations on a common customs tariff would be ahead within three years. We decided on 98% of the customs tariff and agreed that those documents would be valid in the near future. Anyway we stressed the need to develop some agreement to encourage the development and movement of goods,” he recalled.

“What is happening now? Unfortunately, judging by the available information (it was previously closed: Russia and Kazakhstan tend to closed negotiating), we are faced with the fact that the main condition for the CU entry is lower tariff rates,” said Siarhiej Sidorski.

In his view, this is a sort of retreat from the previous common position. Therefore, he believes that partners should work more closely to maximize the integration effect.

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Reference information:

Siarhiej Sidorski (born 1954) is Belarus’ ex-Prime Minister. He was appointed the PM in 2003 and held the position until December 2010.

Siarhiej Sidorski became a member of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission in 2011.

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