The authorities of Belarus gave the command of the State Border Committee of the country an unspoken instruction not to obstruct smuggling on the borders with Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania.
This is reported in the Main Directorate of Intelligence.
According to Ukrainian intelligence officers, this decision is related to the sharp deterioration of the financial situation in the country due to Western sanctions. Therefore, the Belarusian authorities decided to reduce the deficit of revenues to the budget at the expense of smuggling. First of all, this will affect the tobacco products of local manufacturers.
In this way, the Lukashenko regime will be able to partially supply the market of Belarus (and later Russia) with sanctioned goods that were previously delivered from the EU. In order to increase the flow of goods, the Belarusian authorities are relaxing the requirements for crossing the border from the EU countries.
The border agencies of Poland and Lithuania have already announced the discovery of large consignments of smuggled Belarusian tobacco in trucks.