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' (Belarusian)/ Respublika Belarus' (Russian)

local short form:

Byelarus' (Belarusian)/ Belarus' (Russian)

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, BPP 2, LDP 1, BAP 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 BAP [Mikhail RUSY]; Belarusian Patriotic Party or BPP [Mikalay ULAKHOVICH]; Belarusian Social Sport Party or BSSP [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 [Dzimtry KUCHUK]; Belarusian Party of the Left "Just World" [Syarhey KALYAKIN]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Assembly of BSDH [Syarhey CHERACHEN]; Belarusian Social Democratic Party ("Assembly") or BSDPH [Ihar BARYSAW]; Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly) or BSDP [Mikalay STATKEVICH] (unregistered); BPF Party [Ryhor KASTUSYOW]; 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:

• the Government of Belarus has successfully promoted the migration to an all-IP platform as part of a wider effort towards a digital transformation for the economy;
• the state-supported infrastructure operator beCloud has built an extensive fiber network, which reaches all but the smallest settlements in the country;
• Belarus has the second-highest fiber subscription rate in Europe, behind only Iceland;
• LTE coverage is almost universal, while considerable progress has also been made in developing 5G services (2021)

domestic:

• fixed-line teledensity is improving although rural areas continue to be underserved, approximately 47 per 100 fixed-line;
• mobile-cellular teledensity now roughly 124 telephones per 100 persons (2020)

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 a downturn, particularly in mobile device production;

progress toward 5G implementation has resumed, as well as upgrades to infrastructure; consumer spending on telecom services has increased due to the surge in demand for capacity and bandwidth; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home is still evident, and the spike in this area has seen growth opportunities for development of new tools and increased services

• 18-27 years of age for compulsory military or alternative service;
• conscript service obligation is 12-18 months, depending on academic qualifications, and 24-36 months for alternative service, also depending on academic qualifications;
• 17-year-olds are eligible to become cadets at military higher education institutes, where they are classified as military personnel (2022)

note: conscripts can be assigned to the military, to the Ministry of Interior as internal or border troops, or to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (alternative service); as of 2020,

conscripts comprised an estimated 40% of the military

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 has been 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; in 2022, Belarus allowed Russian military forces to stage on its territory for its invasion of Ukraine

Belarus has been a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) since 1994 and contributes an airborne brigade to CSTO's rapid reaction force (KSOR) (2022)