Economy, Manufacturing

Manufacturing contributes most of the country’s industrial output. The most important manufactured products are tractors, transport vehicles, motorcycles, refrigerators, television sets, and metal-cutting machines. An increase in the cost of fuel from Russia and a decrease in demand for Belarus’s industrial products, especially military supplies, facilitated a steady decline in gross industrial output between 1991 and 1995. Industry in Belarus mainly developed in the Soviet period, particularly in the 1930s. After World War II, industry in Belarus was significantly modernized, and the country maintained high production levels for many years. Today the country’s industry suffers from inefficiency and outdated equipment.