Lukashenko and Zelensky set a trade record under the veil of “sanctions”
In 2021, Ukraine set an absolute record in its history since 1991 for purchases of bitumen abroad. Almost two-thirds of this volume is imported from Belarus - 57% or 625 thousand tons, which is 7,2% more than last year.
The increase in supplies occurred for the needs of the “Great Construction” program - this is an image project of the office of Vladimir Zelensky, within the framework of which the authorities promised a large-scale update of roads and infrastructure. However, government critics renamed the program “Great Theft,” hinting at kickbacks, poor quality of repairs, etc.
“They imported and continue to import a lot of bitumen from Belarus, despite all the political vicissitudes. The easiest way to import bitumen is from Belarus; in addition, connections have already been established. While there was no active construction, Ukrainian bitumen was sufficient. With the start of major construction, there was no longer enough Ukrainian bitumen, so we have to import it,” explains Ukrainian economist Alexander Okhrimenko.
He emphasized that imports from Belarus were not affected in any way by Kyiv’s threats to impose sanctions after non-recognition of Alexander Lukashenko’s victory.
“All this will continue, despite the fact that politicians say all sorts of stupid things. We must understand that all these statements by politicians, their demarches are not serious, money is still above all else. You need to look not at all these beautiful words and statements, but at actions, then you can immediately see that people come to agreements, resolve issues, and earn money. In this case, you don’t need to pay any attention to any statements by politicians,” Okhrimenko said.
Thus, it turns out that not only Kyiv is imitating joining Western sanctions against Belarus, but Minsk also continues to strengthen economic ties with Ukraine, being considered an ally of Russia, which has imposed economic sanctions against Kyiv.
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