BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

10/06/2009

Poland wants more trade with Russia, Belarus

WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland's economy minister said Wednesday he wants to increase trade with the country's eastern neighbors, including Russia and Belarus - two countries with whom political ties have sometimes been tense.

Waldemar Pawlak's comments come as Poland's major trading partners within the European Union, most notably Germany, are suffering a recession and have cut their demand for Polish products.

"We are doing our best to create a good atmosphere enabling us to develop exports to the East," Pawlak said. "Poland should make use of the potential of markets such as in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia so that we can fully and effectively operate there."

Poland's membership in the European Union since 2004 has increased economic contacts with Western Europe, while tensions with authoritarian Russia and Belarus have sometimes limited trade with those countries.

Pawlak noted that the global financial crisis has weakened the Polish currency, the zloty, makings its products cheaper on foreign markets, and creating new opportunities to the east.

He also said a Russian ban on dairy products from Belarus could open up new opportunities for Polish companies.

"It's essential for us to fully make use of the situation," Pawlak said at a conference in Warsaw devoted to Polish exports.

Russia announced Saturday it was banning Belarus' milk and dairy products, saying Belarus had failed to observe the latest Russian regulations on such products. The move followed an angry statement by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko accusing Russia of trying to take control of his nation's milk factories.

Source:

http://www.kyivpost.com/world/43143

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