Arseny Sivitsky, Director of the Center for Strategic and Foreign Policy Studies (Minsk, Belarus)
In late March, 2021 OECD issued a report “Sustainable Infrastructure for Low-carbon Development in the EU Eastern Partnership”. The report analyses planned infrastructure projects, decision-making frameworks related to infrastructure development and strategic planning documents in the six countries of the EU Eastern Partnership: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the countries of the Eastern Partnership had experienced rapid growth and, in many cases, begun undertaking sweeping market reforms, the report reads.
The current infrastructure gap in EaP countries combined with the economic downturn resulting from COVID-19 represent a major challenge in the region, but also an opportunity to promote infrastructure projects that will boost investment and employment while contributing to progress towards long-term objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
StrategEast has interviewed major experts from EaP countries. Here are the answers from Belarusian expert.
According to officials, Belarus is developing an action plan to minimize the consequences for the country’s economy of the introduction of the EU carbon tax. Although the European Union has not yet given the Belarusian side a final mechanism for regulating carbon imports, the Belarusian officials are expressing their concerns since the tax will be imposed on all goods that are imported into the EU. In case of Belarusian export this tax will affect the energy sector, as well as such energy-intensive industries as the production of cement, steel, paper, cardboard, aluminum and oil refining.
Belarusian authorities have set up an interdepartmental working group to develop a strategy for a work plan to reduce the carbon intensity of sectors of the economy. The Belarusian government is going to adopt a plan of measures to minimize the impact on the economy of Belarus due to the introduction of the EU carbon tax.
However, ongoing political crisis in Belarus, lack of culture of strategic planning, mounting sanctions pressure from the West and decreasing support from Russia make progress in achieving carbon neutrality goal complicated. This goal envisages a profound reform agenda according to the main trends of the 4th industrial revolution and post-pandemic realities that the current political leadership of the country hardly accepts due to strategic miscalculations, ideological prejudices and lack of financial resources.
The social economic model with industrial sector as the core element of Belarus is in a deep crisis due to structural imbalances as well as deteriorating terms and conditions of cooperation with Russia in energy sector. Together with the EU carbon tax this should be considered as a strategic challenge that requires a comprehensive economic policy response since the EU is the second largest trade partner for Belarus which consumes primarily products of Belarusian oil and chemical sector.
Thus, one of the EaP initiative’s missions should be facilitating carbon neutrality goals through providing expert assistance, knowledge and technology sharing, access to technical funds and financial support. Unfortunately, due to the political crisis in Belarus and its international consequences these resources are unavailable for the Belarusian authorities.
