The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine stated that Russia's economic problems are beginning to directly affect Belarus, and Minsk is already shifting to an austerity mode due to the deteriorating financial situation. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service, according to UNN.
Details
The SZRU noted that Russia ended the quarter with a GDP decline for the first time in several years, and the Russian Ministry of Finance spent the annual budget deficit limit in just three months.
Ports are burning, refineries are too. For Belarus, this is not just bad news from a neighbor – it is the immediate future
According to intelligence data, there is a stable dependence between the economies of Russia and Belarus, where Russia's problems transfer to Belarus with a delay of three to four months.
The SZRU believes that the Belarusian authorities have already begun cutting costs. In particular, problems have arisen with the implementation of the regional program "One District – One Project" with a budget of 9 billion rubles. Out of 220 facilities, only 98 have been completed.
The official reason cited is a shortage of labor resources; however, the intelligence service emphasizes that the demographic situation in the regions has not changed since the program's launch.
Also, according to the SZRU, in the agricultural sector of Belarus, capital construction has begun to be replaced by temporary, cheaper structures, which allows for cost reduction.
The intelligence service draws particular attention to the situation in medicine. They stated that public discussions about the "efficiency" of regional medicine may indicate preparations for future cuts.
The SZRU also mentioned the February power outages in Belarus, which were initially explained by technical reasons.
Now it looks like the first public demonstration that money is becoming increasingly scarce
They added that the Belarusian authorities have not yet officially announced a change in economic course, but decisions to cut spending have likely already been made.