Belarusian National Technical University, Minsk, Belarus:

S. Yu. Solodovnikov, Head of Department, Professor, Doctor of Economic Sciences, solodovnikov@bntu.by
Yu. V. Meleshko, Associate Professor, Candidate of Economic Sciences

The article presents an economic analysis of the current peat industry in the Republic of Belarus. It is shown how, thanks to the active state policy of the peat industry, it has become possible to overcome crises (the crisis of the 90s caused by the collapse of the USSR, and the 2015 crisis associated with the termination of fuel briquettes export to the EU), and to maintain peat production capacity due to the domestic demand. The Belarussian peat industry annually extracts about 2 million tons of milled peat, produces more than 1 million tons of fuel products (about 10% of which is exported) and more than 250 thousand tons of agricultural peat products (about 50% are exported). It has been stated that the peat industry is of great importance for diversifying the country’s fuel and energy balance and energy security, as well as for supporting the socio-economic development of peat mining regions (as a rule, small settlements). Within the framework of the adopted state program, the further development of peat production is expected both in the direction of expanding the use of peat for fuel purposes in the domestic market, and increasing the production of non-fuel peat products, including for the purpose of export. Taking into account future changes in the structure of energy resources in the Republic of Belarus (reaching full capacity of the Belarussian NPP), the prevailing negative dynamics of fuel peat consumption by households in rural areas and small towns, updating the global environmental agenda, as well as increasing external threats and risks to energy security, the authors propose a number of measures aimed to increase the economic stability of the Belarusian peat industry.

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