The Bank of Lithuania reported that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the republic will reduce its growth after the introduction of restrictions against Belarus. And the management of the Klaipeda port announced that with the loss of Belarusian transit, which accounted for about 23% of all shipments, and the reduction in dues, the port would lose about 18 million euros in revenue.
According to the portal Baltnews, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Europe’s restrictive measures against Belarus hit, first of all, the Baltic countries and Poland, and the republic itself intends to reorient itself to the markets of the African and Asian regions.
“The next attempts to restrict and intimidate us turn against the business and economy of the country that imposes the sanctions. The Baltic countries, Poland and Ukraine have already felt this. We maintain contacts with representatives of these states through many channels, and they speak with one voice about this. And not only them”, the presidential press service quoted the head of Belarus.
According to Lukashenko, there is a hybrid war against Minsk and sanctions – its economic component, the main goal of which is to eliminate direct competitors, ruin and destroy key enterprises, and strangle the economy of Belarus.
“And, to put it bluntly, through the closure of factories and massive unemployment to drive people into poverty, and at best – to bring them to the streets. We cannot and will not allow this”, President Lukashenko said.
Recall that in August, the administration of US President Joe Biden approved the introduction of the largest package of sectoral sanctions against Belarus. The US added 23 Belarusian citizens and 21 legal entities to the sanctions blacklist, including private commodity traders, who, as the US Treasury said, are close to the President of the Republic, Alexander Lukashenko. Also on the sanctions list were two large state-owned enterprises – “Belaruskali” and the Grodno tobacco factory “Neman”.