Brief biography of Belarus

The current borders of the Republic of Belarus were updated on January 26 - the unofficial name - Belarus was established in the restless time of World War II. Belarus, then part of the USSR, was in the German occupation per year. During this period, the country lost 2.2 million people, including most of its Jewish population. Today in the west of the country there are near ethnic Poles.

In the postwar years, Belarus was considered one of the most successful republics of the Union, but after gaining independence, the economy went on decline.

Since the year, the President of the Republic of Belarus has been Alexander Lukashenko, who categorically opposed the privatization of state enterprises. Private companies at that time actually did not exist. Foreign investors remained aside. Throughout the years of his presidency, Lukashenko has been criticized by Western countries and human rights activists who declare his strict sanctions against opposition and press figures.

At the beginning of the year, the United States called the Republic of Belarus "the last outpost of tyranny in Europe", but since the end of the year, tension in the relationship of Minsk and the West began to subside. One of the main ones is the issue of relations between Minsk and Moscow. The signature for the photo, Alexander Lukashenko - President of Belarus from the year in the middle of the x Lukashenko and the first president of Russia Boris Yeltsin spoke about the creation of a union state, which actually remained only on paper.

The Republic of Belarus depends on Russia in terms of energy supply. A significant part of Russian gas exports pass through the country. At the end of the year, relations between the two countries worsened when Moscow threatened to stop gas supply until Minsk agrees to buy it at a double price. As a result, the conflict was settled. However, scandals associated with the supply and transit of oil and gas, in relations between Russia and the Republic of Belarus, arise regularly.

For example, in the year agreements were signed on the creation of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, and from January 1, a single customs space formally had to be valid. However, Moscow and Minsk could not agree on how new customs rules apply to the export of raw oil from Russia to Belarus. In recent years, Belarus managed to agree on the reduced rates of Russian export duties on fuel.

In the new year, Minsk sought a complete abolition of duties, but Moscow agreed to supply oil duty free to a neighboring country only in the amount of its domestic consumption. Oil products made of cheaply purchased Russian oil have been about a third of Belarusian exports in recent years and have become one of the main sources of revenues to the country's budget.