It’s expected that HC Trading, a member of Heidelberg Cement Group, will deliver coal in two shiploads ­– the first in December 2021, the second in January next year.

Whether Gazprom will secure the necessary German and EU authorisations to proceed with the pipeline is not yet certain.

The country's government approved a draft budget for 2022 with a deficit of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), down from 5.5 percent expected this year.

The new agreements – 28 in all – were known in advance but clinched at talks last week in Moscow between Lukashenko and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.1 percent year-on-year in January-July compared to a 6.1 percent contraction in the same period last year.

When the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine became an independent state, the opportunity to create a new economic reality for its citizens was missed by the government and policymakers. The delayed reorientation toward a market-based energy policy resulted in decades of corruption and dependence on Russia.