Alexander Lukashenko

held a meeting on banking and called on the government and banks to solve the problem of sending and receiving payments to other countries:

"It's as if we can deliver products and other things... That's why the specialists of the National Bank and banks in general need to be involved in solving the problem of passing payments.

This problem should not be.

She is not there: we just work disgustingly.

And individual private individuals of ours show how to work," said Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting on the banking sector.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka also acknowledged the problems with payments during the implementation of foreign trade operations.

"Russia is being spied on with additional sanctions, and so that there is no way around it through us, we will also be not just intimidated by additional sanctions, but pumped up."

Sanctions against Belarus for supporting the Russian war in Ukraine

Alexander Lukashenko admitted that rockets were fired at Ukrainian territory from Belarus.

At the same time, Belarusian soldiers were not sent to Ukrainian territory.

In an interview with Svaboda, the US ambassador to Belarus, Julie Fisher, stated that "Lukashenka's regime is an accomplice of Russia's current invasion of Ukraine, as it allowed Russia to launch an attack from Belarusian territory."

On February 26, Canada and the Council of the European Union announced sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

20 Belarusian officials and military personnel were included in the list.

15 legal entities and 8 individuals were included in the US sanctions list.

On February 28, the ambassadors of the European Union introduced visa sanctions against 22 Belarusian high-ranking officials.

The Moladachan factory "MaybeLine" went idle, because the Swedish company IKEA closed its business in the country.

IKEA closely cooperated with a number of other manufacturers and factories, including state ones.

Among them is the state-owned "Minsk Furniture Center" from Molodechno, the Mogilev textile manufacturer "Magateks", the Minsk watch factory "Luch" and others.

In March, the European Union banned the export of woodworking products produced in or exported from Belarus.

The Ministry of Forestry stated that it was forced to send products from Europe to Asia.

Due to the difficulties of doing business in the region, Booking.com and Airbnb are not operating in the country.

The Danish transport and logistics company Maersk announced the cessation of cargo transportation to Belarus on March 4.

When leaving the Belarusian market, other companies with a similar profile — DHL and FedEx — reported.

On March 5, the Finnish company OLVI announced the start of winding down its business in Belarus, where the company owns Lidzkaye Piva.

The plant's 840 employees will receive their salaries for the time being, the shutdown of business will be gradual.

On March 6, the Republic of Korea imposed sanctions.

They introduced export control measures for Belarus, believing that it "significantly contributes to Russia's invasion of Ukraine."

Japan introduced sanctions on March 8.

Assets of individuals and legal entities that have come under the new restrictions are frozen.

Deliveries of dual-purpose goods to Belarus and exports to the Ministry of Defense of Belarus and "Integral" are prohibited.

The World Bank stopped all programs in Belarus.

The bank noted that it has not approved new loans to Belarus since 2020.

Restrictions affected the sports industry.

Belarusian national teams of various ages have been suspended from participating in international tournaments in hockey, handball and basketball.

The Belarusian national team was not allowed to participate in the 2022 Paralympic Games.

The rating agency Fitch, taking into account the sanctions, lowered the long-term sovereign credit rating of Belarus to CCC, which means a real possibility of default.

The American financial company American Express has suspended the provision of services in the country.

No operations are now possible on her cards.

On March 9, the European Union approved the disconnection of three Belarusian banks from SWIFT.

These are Belagroprombank, Dobrabyt Bank and Development Bank.

On April 16, a complete ban on the crossing of the border with the European Union by cargo transport of Belarus and Russia was introduced.

In the decision of the European Union, which was published in the official journal, it is said that the European Union, in accordance with the imposed sanctions, prohibits the import and transit of goods by road transport from Belarus and Russia to the territory of the European Union.

On November 22, Canada expanded earlier sanctions.

The lists included an additional 22 Belarusian officials, as well as 16 Belarusian companies related to the military industry, engineering, the financial sector and railway transport.

Among the sanctioned persons were those responsible for the transportation of Russian soldiers and equipment used for the invasion of Ukraine.

Belarusian Alfa-Bank and MTBank were included in the list of companies that came under sanctions.

On January 28, 2023, the President of Ukraine implemented the decision of the National Security and Defense Council on sanctions against 185 legal entities and individuals that Russia uses to transport personnel and military equipment by rail.

The list included "Belaruskaliy", Gomel Chemical Plant, "Belarusian Railway", "Belintertrans", "Cargo Service-West", "Lyakofarba", "Belgazprombank", "PLM-Innovations", "Kronaspan OSB", "Bellesexport", "Trans-Agra Cooperation", "Real-Agent", "Promogroleasing", "ASBLeasing", "Transit-Auto-2003", "Isothermal Logistics", "Omsk-Karbon Mogilev" and others.