Context: Rosselkhoznadzor and Rospotrebnadzor have banned the import of the following items to Russia from Armenia: mineral water, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, leafy greens, strawberries, flowers, and cognac. Rosselkhoznadzor explained this as a means of protecting Russia’s phytosanitary well-being. According to the official wording, the decision is temporary and will remain in effect until the safety of the shipped products is ensured. This coincided with Armenia’s rapprochement with the European Union, as well as the EAEU leaders’ call for Armenia to hold a referendum and choose between the EAEU and the EU. They claim that the country cannot belong to two unions simultaneously.
On 26 May 2026, Kirill Kazakov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Minsky Kurier, explained on Radio-Minsk which exports could generate revenue for Belarus. One such resource is Belarusian mineral water, he said.
“The amount of money we earn from exports is $10 billion. And, of course, we have another resource that few people now take seriously. It’s water. Clean water. Belarus is home to approximately 70% of Europe’s mineral waters, according to various estimates. Mineral waters.”
Belarus does have significant mineral water reserves. A total of 245 deposits have been explored in the country, and the estimated industrial reserves are 65,000 cubic meters per day. In other words, this is the maximum amount of water that can be extracted daily without depleting the deposits.
However, the assertion that 70% of Europe’s mineral waters are in this country is unconfirmed. There are no studies indicating that Belarus holds such a share. Comparisons with other countries show that Kazakov’s assessment does not reflect reality. Ukraine’s operational mineral water reserves amount to nearly 100,000 cubic meters per day. That is more than in Belarus. Poland’s mineral water reserves are almost three times as large as Belarus’s. In Bulgaria, they are six times greater. France bottles approximately 7 million cubic meters of mineral water for sale each year. That’s almost 20,000 cubic meters per day. In Italy, this figure is 45,000 cubic meters per day.
In other words, France and Italy alone bottle and sell roughly as much mineral water each year as Belarus has identified as commercially exploitable reserves. Obviously, the real water reserves in these countries are clearly much larger.
