Impact of the Russian Crisis on the Belarussian Economy

The full-scale financial crisis in Russia erupted in August 1998 made a blow to the President Lukashenko domestic and foreign policy. However, a year-by-year worsening of the domestic economy due to maintaining a system of command economy led to a crisis in Belarus already in the first quarter of 1998. The crisis in Russian spilling over through trade channel only additionally aggravated economic situation in Belarus. The paper briefly characterizes the economic system in Belarus prior to the first quarter of 1998 and then analyzes consequences of the Russian financial crisis on the Belarussian economy.