Henryk Kowalczyk, who is also deputy prime minister of the Polish government, told the state PAP news agency that the embargo posed “a certain difficulty” for Poland’s food industry, but “not a very big one.”
The regime of Belarus’ autocratic leader Alexander Lukashenko announced the move in December, in response to Western sanctions against Minsk over the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border, PAP reported.
“Our trade with Belarus is worth around EUR 200 million a year, which accounts for 0.6 percent of Polish food exports,” the minister pointed out.
He added that apples were the main product sold to Belarus, although “it’s not our chief destination at the moment, with an increasing proportion being exported in other directions, such as Egypt.”
“Belarus is harming itself rather than anyone else with this embargo,” Kowalczyk said, “and in my view, it shouldn’t last long.”
The agriculture minister expressed hope that “after a few weeks of turbulence” Polish exports to Belarus would resume.
In the first ten months of 2021, Poland’s exports to Belarus - chiefly fruit and vegetables - totaled EUR 194 million, a 5.6 decrease on the corresponding period of 2020, according to PAP.
The Belarus embargo comprises Polish beef, poultry, pork, milk and milk products, fruit, vegetables, nuts and sweets, among other goods and products, the news agency reported.
(pm)
Source: PAP