Economist on sanctions: Belarus and Russia did better than expected

The economies of Belarus and Russia coped with the sanctions better than expected, well-known Russian economist Alexander Auzan told the media after a meeting with Belarusian experts in Minsk on 14 April, BelTA has learned. “In spite of bad expectations the year 2022 turned out to be better than we expected in March when this tragic story in Ukraine began. Economists predicted a significant downturn under the pressure of sanctions, but the economies did well. This was also thanks to the work of central banks and governments.

But the main burden of the U-turn was taken on by enterprises, by business. What Russia learned was that the market economy was working. This was not obvious before this hard test,” Alexander Auzan said.

He believes, however, that it is too early to tally the results. There will be new difficulties. The main danger of sanctions is not exports-imports and the assortment, but access to high technology.

“What is next is unclear. Will we be able to produce analogues or will we have to hunt for elements of these high technologies using layers of mediators? How many years will this story go on. How will it manifest itself? It is still unpredictable,” the economist added.

Alexander Auzan expressed his opinion about joint work in the microelectronics industry. “Belarus and Russia have no other choice but to collaborate. We need workable, relatively fast microchips.

I think we will definitely produce them. Maybe they will not be the best in terms of global competitiveness. They will almost certainly be expensive and not very economical.

But they will keep critical systems running. We can do it. We will see how successful we will be,” Alexander Auzan said.