Belarus

After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than have any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place and current negotiations on further integration have been contentious.

Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first and only directly elected president, Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means and a centralized economic system. Government restrictions on political and civil freedoms, freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion have remained in place. Restrictions on political freedoms have grown increasingly strained following the disputed presidential election in August 2020.

The election results sparked largescale protests as members of the opposition and civil society criticized the election’s validity. Alyaksandr LUKASHENKA has remained in power as the disputed winner of the presidential election after quelling protests in late 2020.

party to:

Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

conventional long form:

Republic of Belarus

conventional short form:

Belarus

local long form:

Respublika Byelarus'/Respublika Belarus'

local short form:

Byelarus'/Belarus'

former:

Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic

etymology:

the name is a compound of the Belarusian words "bel" (white) and "Rus" (the Old East Slavic ethnic designation) to form the meaning White Rusian or White Ruthenian

description:

bicameral National Assembly or Natsyyalny Skhod consists of:; Council of the Republic or Savet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members indirectly elected by regional and Minsk city councils and 8 members appointed by the president; members serve 4-year terms); House of Representatives or Palata Pradstawnikow (110 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

Council of the Republic - indirect election last held on 7 November 2019;

• House of Representatives - last held on 17 November 2019 (next to be held in 2023);
• OSCE observers determined that the election was neither free nor impartial and that vote counting was problematic in a number of polling stations;
• pro-LUKASHENKA candidates won every seat;
• international observers determined that the previous elections, on 28 September 2008, 23 September 2012, and 11 September 2016 also fell short of democratic standards, with pro-LUKASHENKA candidates winning every, or virtually every, seat

election results:

• Council of the Republic - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - NA;
• composition -NA

;

• House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - KPB 11, Republican Party of Labor and Justice 6, Belarusian Patriotic Party 2, LDP 1, AP 1, independent 89;
• composition - men 66, women 44, percent of women 40%

note: the US does not recognize the legitimacy of the National Assembly

pro-government parties:

Belarusian Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail RUSY]; Belarusian Patriotic Party [Mikalay ULAKHOVICH]; Belarusian Social Sport Party [Uladzimir ALEKSANDROVICH]; Communist Party of Belarus or KPB [Alyaksey SOKOL]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Aleh GAYDUKEVICH]; Republican Party [Uladzimir BELAZOR]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice [Alyaksandr STSYAPANAW]; Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord [Syarhey YERMAK]

opposition parties:

Belarusian Christian Democracy Party [Paval SEVYARYNETS, Volha KAVALKOVA, Vital RYMASHEWSKI] (unregistered); Belarusian Party of the Green [Anastasiya DOROFEYEVA]; Belarusian Party of the Left "Just World" [Syarhey KALYAKIN]; Belarusian Popular Front or BPF [Ryhor KASTUSYOW]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Assembly [Syarhey CHERACHEN]; Belarusian Social Democratic Party ("Assembly") or BSDPH [Ihar BARYSAW]; Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly) [Mikalay STATKEVICH] (unregistered); Christian Conservative Party or BPF [Zyanon PAZNYAK]; United Civic Party or UCP [Mikalay KAZLOW]

name:

"My, Bielarusy" (We Belarusians)

lyrics/music:

Mikhas KLIMKOVICH and Uladzimir KARYZNA/Nester SAKALOUSKI

note: music adopted 1955, lyrics adopted 2002; after the fall of the Soviet Union, Belarus kept the music of its Soviet-era anthem but adopted new lyrics;

also known as "Dziarzauny himn Respubliki Bielarus" (State Anthem of the Republic of Belarus)

As part of the former Soviet Union, Belarus had a relatively well-developed industrial base, but it is now outdated, inefficient, and dependent on subsidized Russian energy and preferential access to Russian markets. The country’s agricultural base is largely dependent on government subsidies.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, an initial burst of economic reforms included privatization of state enterprises, creation of private property rights, and the acceptance of private entrepreneurship, but by 1994 the reform effort dissipated. About 80% of industry remains in state hands, and foreign investment has virtually disappeared.

Several businesses have been renationalized. State-owned entities account for 70-75% of GDP, and state banks make up 75% of the banking sector.

Economic output declined for several years following the break-up of the Soviet Union, but revived in the mid-2000s. Belarus has only small reserves of crude oil and imports crude oil and natural gas from Russia at subsidized, below market, prices. Belarus derives export revenue by refining Russian crude and selling it at market prices.

Russia and Belarus have had serious disagreements over prices and quantities for Russian energy. Beginning in early 2016, Russia claimed Belarus began accumulating debt – reaching $740 million by April 2017 – for paying below the agreed price for Russian natural gas and Russia cut back its export of crude oil as a result of the debt. In April 2017, Belarus agreed to pay its gas debt and Russia restored the flow of crude.

New non-Russian foreign investment has been limited in recent years, largely because of an unfavorable financial climate. In 2011, a financial crisis lead to a nearly three-fold devaluation of the Belarusian ruble. The Belarusian economy has continued to struggle under the weight of high external debt servicing payments and a trade deficit. In mid-December 2014, the devaluation of the Russian ruble triggered a near 40% devaluation of the Belarusian ruble.

Belarus’s economy stagnated between 2012 and 2016, widening productivity and income gaps between Belarus and neighboring countries. Budget revenues dropped because of falling global prices on key Belarusian export commodities. Since 2015, the Belarusian government has tightened its macro-economic policies, allowed more flexibility to its exchange rate, taken some steps towards price liberalization, and reduced subsidized government lending to state-owned enterprises.

Belarus returned to modest growth in 2017, largely driven by improvement of external conditions and Belarus issued sovereign debt for the first time since 2011, which provided the country with badly-needed liquidity, and issued $600 million worth of Eurobonds in February 2018, predominantly to US and British investors.

general assessment:

• government owns and administers backbone network and much of telecom market with no independent regulator;
• government and telecom regulator are concluding three major programs aimed at developing the telecom sector and digital economy to enable 5G services and extension of fiber infrastructure;
• growing applications for smart cities;
• developing mobile broadband and data services to rural areas;
• commercial LTE services extended to 80% of the population;
• operators provide standalone 5G service and NB-IoT services;
• international connection through fiber optic and terrestrial link, nascent satellite system;
• importer of broadcasting equipment from China (2020)

domestic:

• fixed-line teledensity is improving although rural areas continue to be underserved, 48 per 100 fixed-line;
• mobile-cellular teledensity now approaches 123 telephones per 100 persons (2019)

international:

• country code - 375;
• Belarus is landlocked and therefore a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL), Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line, and has access to the Trans-Siberia Line (TSL);
• 3 fiber-optic segments provide connectivity to Latvia, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine;
• worldwide service is available to Belarus through this infrastructure;
• additional analog lines to Russia;
• Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik earth stations;
• almost 31,000 base stations in service in 2019 (2020)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production;

many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes;

the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

Belarus has close security ties with Russia, including an integrated air and missile defense system, joint training exercises, and the establishment of three joint training centers since 2020 (1 in Belarus, 2 in Russia); Russia is the principal supplier of arms to Belarus, and Belarusian troops reportedly train on Russian equipment;

Russia leases from Belarus a strategic ballistic missile defense site operated by Russian Aerospace Forces and a global communications facility for the Russian Navy; in 2020, the countries signed an agreement allowing for close security cooperation between the Belarusian Ministry of Interior and the Russian National Guard, including protecting public order and key government facilities, and combating extremism and terrorism

Belarus has been a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) since 1994 and contributes troops to CSTO's rapid reaction force