The president of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has called to raise the cement exports of the country during a meeting to appoint Alyaksandr Dawhala as the new CEO of Belarusian Cement Co, according to BelaPAN.

"There is enough cement in our country," said Mr Lukashenko. "Cement industrialists once told me that they would like to double output and modernise production facilities. We invested money and modernised [production facilities], but it is necessary to effectively work in external markets. We had a lot of problems in this regard."

However, the Belarusian leader was informed that the country’s cement export performance has improved recently. The export market has begun to diversify beyond Russia, with the country now exporting more cement to Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine.

Mr Lukashenko also noted that attempts to privatise the industry, especially with regards to Hrodna Building Materials, would not be welcomed. Instead this should only be done after the businesses become successful and as a last resort.