MINSK, 5 September (BelTA) – Belarus may earn about $300 million extra by exporting more agricultural products to Russia by the end of the year, BelTA learned from Roman Brodov, Head of the Central Office for Foreign Economic Policy of the Belarusian Economy Ministry, on 4 September.

"Our export to Russia has always been rather high. But we are now considering the redistribution of commodity flows, the regrouping of commodity groups that may evolve into some other proposals regarding the product choice and may generate higher foreign currency revenues," explained Roman Brodov.

Asked in what situation Belarusian manufacturers will be in after the embargo is lifted, Roman Brodov said he was confident that the situation will not change drastically. "Our share on the Russian market is rather stable. I would ask a different question: will we be able to satisfy Russia's entire demand for food? Therefore, we don't think our products will become superfluous. If we go back 1.5-2 years when relations between the Russian Federation and the European Union were not so tense, there were no sanction considerations. Back then there was no question where we should sell our products. Everyone had enough space on the market," noted Roman Brodov.

Roman Brodov also underlined that Belarusian producers choose Russia to sell their merchandise on the basis of economic motivation. The demand for Belarusian products exists in other countries, too. "Economic benefits are always the key. If merchandise is to be sold to farther countries, it will involve different expenses, it will mean a different price situation. Therefore, deliveries to the Russian market are reasonable actions on the part of manufacturers, who are willing to maximize their profits from the economic point of view," he explained.

Roman Brodov remarked that relevant agencies constantly work to diversify the markets to sell Belarusian products on. "Virtually all the meetings arranged at the interstate level touch upon the diversification of deliveries. Some headway has been made both with regard to comparatively new markets — Latin America, Asia — and with regard to the projects, which are in development, have no stable ties but have potential," he stated.