Editing Belarus (section)

===Trade===
Belarus has trade relations with over 180 countries. As of 2007, its main trading partners were Russia, which accounted for about 45% of Belarusian exports and 55% of imports (which include petroleum),<ref>{{cite news |date=25 October 2006 |title=Russia may cut oil supplies to ally Belarus&nbsp;– Putin |work=Reuters |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/energy-russia-belarus-idUKL2556634020061025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305153646/http://uk.reuters.com/article/energy-russia-belarus-idUKL2556634020061025 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=8 October 2007}}</ref> and the EU countries, with 25% of exports and 20% of imports.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Bykau, A. |title=Modeling Economic Growth in Contemporary Belarus (Entrepreneurship and Global Economic Growth) |author2=Vysotski, S. |publisher=Emerald Publishing Limited |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-83867-696-4 |editor=Sergi, B.S. |pages=235–248 |chapter=What Belarus Produces, Exports, and Imports: Analyzing Trade in Value Added |doi=10.1108/978-1-83867-695-720191016 |s2cid=211781907}}</ref><ref name="natotrade">{{cite web |author=Kaare Dahl Martinsen |year=2002 |title=The Russian-Belarusian Union and the Near Abroad |url=http://www.nato.int/acad/fellow/99-01/martinsen.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127003300/http://www.nato.int/acad/fellow/99-01/martinsen.pdf |archive-date=27 November 2007 |access-date=7 November 2007 |work=Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies |publisher=NATO}}</ref>{{update inline|date=December 2023}}

In April 2022, as a result of its facilitation of the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the EU imposed trade sanctions on Belarus.<ref>{{cite press release |title=EU sanctions in response to the involvement of Belarus in the Russian military aggression against Ukraine |date=8 April 2022 |url=https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/news/eu-sanctions-response-involvement-belarus-russian-military-aggression-against-ukraine |publisher=[[European Commission]]}}</ref> The sanctions were extended and expanded in August 2023.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Belarus: EU adopts new round of individual sanctions over continued human rights abuses and imposes further targeted measures in response to involvement in Russia's military aggression against Ukraine |url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/08/03/belarus-eu-adopts-new-round-of-individual-sanctions-over-continued-human-rights-abuses-and-imposes-further-targeted-measures-in-response-to-involvement-in-russia-s-military-aggression-against-ukraine/ |date=3 August 2023 |publisher=[[Council of the European Union]]}}</ref> These sanctions are in addition to those imposed following the rigged 2020 "election" of Lukashenko.<ref>{{cite web |title=EU restrictive measures against Belarus |url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/sanctions/restrictive-measures-against-belarus/ |publisher=[[European Council]], [[Council of the European Union]]}}</ref>

At the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Belarus was one of the world's most industrially developed states by proportion of GDP and the richest CIS member-state.<ref name="wb97">[[World Bank]]. "Belarus: Prices, Markets, and Enterprise Reform", [https://books.google.com/books?id=0jCvjCHPHpcC&pg=PA83 p. 1]. World Bank, 1997; {{ISBN|0-8213-3976-1}}</ref> In 2015, 39.3% of Belarusians were employed by state-controlled companies, 57.2% by private companies (in which the government has a 21.1% stake) and 3.5% by foreign companies.<ref name="econstats">{{Cite web |title=Belarus in Figures, 2016 |url=https://www.belstat.gov.by/en/ofitsialnaya-statistika/publications/statistical-publications-data-books-bulletins/public_compilation/index_4921/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210221122356/https://www.belstat.gov.by/en/ofitsialnaya-statistika/publications/statistical-publications-data-books-bulletins/public_compilation/index_4921/ |archive-date=21 February 2021 |access-date=16 May 2021 |website=www.belstat.gov.by}}</ref> In 1994, Belarus's main exports included heavy machinery (especially [[Belarus (tractor)|tractors]]), agricultural products, and energy products.<ref name="byexports">{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/belarus/36.htm|title=Belarus&nbsp;– Exports|access-date=4 November 2007|year=1994|author=Library of Congress|work=Country Studies}}</ref> Economically, Belarus involved itself in the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] (CIS), [[Eurasian Economic Community]], and [[Union State|Union with Russia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Belarus and CIS countries and Georgia |url=https://mfa.gov.by/en/bilateral/cis/ |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus |access-date=6 April 2021}}</ref> In the 1990s, industrial production plunged due to decreases in imports, investment, and demand for Belarusian products from its trading partners.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/belarus/30.htm|title=Belarus&nbsp;– Industry|access-date=8 October 2007|year=1995|work=Country Studies|publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref> GDP only began to rise in 1996;<ref name="bybriefwb06">{{cite web|url=http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/eca/eca.nsf/2656afe00bc5f02185256d5d005dae97/8ec2dc1ef03aed3e85256d5d0067dc90?OpenDocument|title=Belarus&nbsp;– Country Brief 2003|access-date=9 November 2007|year=2006|author=World Bank|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210182026/http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ECA/eca.nsf/2656afe00bc5f02185256d5d005dae97/8ec2dc1ef03aed3e85256d5d0067dc90?OpenDocument|archive-date=10 December 2007}}</ref> the country was the fastest-recovering former Soviet republic in the terms of its economy.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bDx0Ak4xnOQC&q=Belarus+GDP+1996&pg=PA328|title=Transition: The First Decade|first1=Mario I.|last1=Bléjer|first2=Director of the Centre for Central Banking Studies Mario I.|last2=Blejer|first3=Marko|last3=Skreb|date=9 May 2001|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-02505-8|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 2006, GDP amounted to US$83.1 billion in [[purchasing power parity]] (PPP) dollars (estimate), or about $8,100 per capita.<ref name="ciaecon">{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Belarus|section=Economy|access-date=8 October 2007|year=2007}}</ref> In 2005, GDP increased by 9.9%; the inflation rate averaged 9.5%.<ref name="ciaecon" /> Belarus was ranked 85th in the [[Global Innovation Index]] in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=www.wipo.int |language=en}}</ref>

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, under Lukashenko's leadership, Belarus has maintained government control of key industries and eschewed the large-scale privatizations seen in other former Soviet republics.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sharon |first1=Omondi |title=What Are The Biggest Industries In Belarus? |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-biggest-industries-in-belarus.html |website=World Atlas |date=14 June 2019 |access-date=6 April 2021}}</ref>

Belarus applied to become a member of the [[World Trade Organization]] in 1993.<ref>{{cite web |title=Accessions – Belarus |url=http://www.wto.org/English/thewto_e/acc_e/a1_belarus_e.htm |access-date=29 April 2013 |publisher=Wto.org}}</ref> Due to its failure to protect labor rights, including passing laws forbidding unemployment or working outside state-controlled sectors,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/no-job-pay-up-belarus-imposes-fines-for-being-unemployed/518581.html|title=No Job? Pay Up. Belarus Imposes Fines for Being Unemployed – News|work=The Moscow Times|date=3 April 2015 }}</ref> Belarus lost its EU [[Generalized System of Preferences]] status on 21 June 2007, which raised tariff rates to their prior [[most favored nation]] levels.<ref name="eutrade">{{Cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/belarus/pdf/belarus_trade_en.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325112636/http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/belarus/pdf/belarus_trade_en.pdf|title=The EU's Relationship With Belarus&nbsp;– Trade|archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref>