Belarus's negative trade balance amounts to $2478mn

The Belarus Ministry of Statistics said that the country's negative foreign trade balance amounted to $2 billion 47,8 million over the past seven month of the year. In the similar period of 2006, this figure was reported as minus $992.4 million. The significant growth of the negative trade balance is primarily associated with the higher costs of the Russian gas and a significant drop in the exports of petrochemical products.

Oil exports reached $387,1 million last year, against just $78,5 million in 2007, reports Belapan.