OREANDA-NEWS. Belarus' authorities will compensate Belarusian exporters for the losses resulting from the devaluation of the Russian ruble.

"We will not follow in the footsteps of Russia to devaluate our domestic currency. A resolution will be adopted soon to compensate Belarusian exporters for the losses resulting from the plunge of the Russian ruble," Belarus' Vice Premier Pyotr Prokopovich told a press-conference on Friday.

In his words, the authorities will compensate for the difference between the Br/RUB exchange rate at the start of the Year 2015 and the average exchange rate in Jan-Nov 2014.

The compensations will be made at the expense of the central budget, Prokopovich said.

In his words, the compensations are directly linked with the requirement of mandatory surrender of FX proceeds by Belarusian exporters (raised from 30% to 50%).

According to Prokopovich, Belarus' exports to Russia totalled USD 13.3 billion in Jan-Oct 2014, with imports slightly exceeding USD 12 billion.

Although exports and imports are more or less balanced, Belarusian exports suffer certain losses as they must sell 30% of their FX proceeds on the foreign exchange market. These particular losses will be compensated for, Prokopovich said.

A short while ago Belarusian Premier Mikhail Myasnikovich voiced concern over the economic situation in Russia, which is Belarus' major trade partner. In his words, Belarus' economy demonstrated certain growth in Jan-Nov 2014, however Belarusian companies lost an estimated USD 739 million on exports to Russia.