Russia
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The demand
for coatings per
capita in Belarus
is nearly 2.2 times
higher than in
neighboring
Russia and slightly
higher than in
Ukraine.
Belarus Coatings Industry
is in a State of Fragile Balance
by Vladislav Vorotnikov
Russia Correspondent
In recent years coating manufacturers in Belarus have been struggling against for- eign producers and managed to defend the
domestic market. However, the greater fight is
only about to begin, as now domestic plants eye
sales expansion, including within common customs space with Russia and Kazakhstan, while
changing market conjuncture forces all market
players to adapt to new conditions.
The demand for coatings per capita in Belarus
is nearly 2-2.2 times higher than in neighboring
Russia and slightly higher than in Ukraine, the
data of country’s State Statistical Service said. In
total with a 9. 6 million population Belarus annually produces nearly 110,000 tons of coatings,
consuming 40,000 tons of industrial coatings
and slightly more of decorative coatings.
In 2011-2012 the Belarus government has
adopted a set of new coatings standards, which,
in the opinion of market participants, has been
called to make domestic coating manufacturers more competitive on the internal market. In
general, this measure has proved its value, since
in 2012-2016 the share of importers in Belarus
ranged between 15-30 percent and this looks
like one of the lowest levels among all countries
of the CIS region.
However, since 2014 the Belarus economy
has been experiencing serious problems with
the falling GDP and purchasing power of citizens. As explained market participants, this
has brought changes to the domestic coatings market.
Lower costs, lower prices
Kirill Pogrebitsky, the press officer of Lida-based OJSC Lakokraska, the country’s largest
coating manufacturer, has revealed that in the
