A Guardian journalist reported in an article about Russian-Belarusian energy relations that Alexander Lukashenko relied on subsidies from Moscow to keep the domestic economy afloat.Discussing this article on October 10, 2025, on International Radio Belarus with host Maria Krushevskaya, political scientist Piotr Piatrouski disagreed with this claim:
"Then I read: ‘...relied on generous Russian subsidies.’ You know, The Guardian is peddling Russian oligarch talking points. (...) We didn't get a single Russian ruble in subsidies."
Apparently, Piotr Piatrouski doesn't consider preferential rates on energy resources for member states of the Eurasian Economic Union to be subsidies. Unlike Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called the special oil prices for Belarus exactly that — subsidies.
"We have certain agreements that boil down to the fact that we will strive to ensure that (I will now speak plainly) the amount of subsidizing the Belarusian economy in this sector — in the oil sector — will be no less than the sum Belarus received in 2007-2009 before the introduction of export customs duties on oil. This sum is $4.124 billion," Putin said in 2011 when he was serving as prime minister at a news conference following talks with his Belarusian counterpart Mikhail Myasnikovich.
In 2018, Russia's ambassador to Belarus, Mikhail Babich, described an annual consolidated support package of $4 billion that Belarus receives. He made this statement in the context of deepening integration between the two countries.
In Belarus, officials call the special terms under which the country buys energy resources support rather than subsidies, but they acknowledge that Belarus's economy is indeed dependent on it. Former Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko saw a threat to Belarus in new sanctions in early 2022 and appealed to his Russian counterpart:
"Under these circumstances, in our view, we need to act quickly and in coordination. Given the high vulnerability of the Belarusian economy to external shocks, we count on support from the Russian Federation during this difficult period."
Among the measures he outlined were special prices for oil and gas.
What The Guardian journalist wrote about keeping Belarus's economy afloat thanks to low oil and gas prices was also described, just in different words, by former counselor-envoy of the Belarusian Embassy in Russia, Deputy Aliaksandr Shpakouski:
"The Belarusian economy is competitive thanks to affordable prices for Russian energy resources, and Russia's market is key for us."
The receipt of subsidies from Russia is also indicated by the Belarusian state budget: in the "Revenues" section, "Gratuitous receipts from foreign states" are listed. In 2020, this was about $200 million; in 2024, it was more than $1 billion.
