“All Conditions Exist”: Belarus Pushes De-Dollarization of Trade with Tashkent

That is how National Bank Chairman Roman Golovchenko framed his proposal that a greater share of mutual settlements with Uzbekistan be conducted in national currencies. He made the remark at a meeting with Uzbekistan’s Ambassador to Belarus Nuriddin Mamajonov, who recently took up his post.

Belarus values its relations with all countries, and Uzbekistan holds a special place among them. Warm ties between the two presidents have created a favorable working atmosphere. Today the relationship goes beyond trade and includes joint projects.

Golovchenko expressed satisfaction with the current level of financial and banking cooperation: “On our side we are satisfied with the financial and banking cooperation with the Republic of Uzbekistan. We have no problems, despite all the difficulties with servicing foreign-economic transactions and conducting settlement operations. Our banks maintain correspondent relations with a large number of Uzbekistani banks. Several dozen mutual Loro and Nostro accounts have been opened. So everything is in order here as well.”

As a practical wish he suggested shifting a larger portion of mutual settlements into national currencies, adding that all the necessary conditions are already in place.

Ambassador Nuriddin Mamajonov outlined the priorities: “The task has been set to bring trade turnover to $2 billion by the end of the year. It currently stands at more than $1 billion; last year it was just short of $1 billion. The second priority is the expansion of industrial cooperation between entrepreneurs of Uzbekistan and Belarus.”

Both countries are developing actively and are ready to attract mutual investment. The stable performance of their economies provides a solid foundation for further interaction.