Bélarus
Since the 1990’s, the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) have made great progress in pursuing economic development that is also environmentally sustainable. The countries, in collaboration with the GREEN Action Task Force hosted by the OECD, has developed a number of policies aiming to improve environmental quality and social well-being, while creating opportunities for strong economic growth and decent jobs in the region.
This report was prepared as the OECD contribution to the ninth “Environment for Europe” (EfE) Conference (5-7 October 2022). In this context, this report aims to: (i) take stock of progress on policy developments towards a green economy in the EECCA countries; (ii) showcase selected contributions from of the Green Action Task Force that integrate environmental and climate considerations into development pathways of the EECCA countries, and mobilise finance for action; and (iii) provide an outlook for the future, including priority actions that the Task Force in co-operation with the EECCA countries should take to enhance the momentum for green economy transition in the region.
Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has had profound effects on the maritime sector. It directly disrupted maritime activities in the Black and Azov seas, causing the suspension of Ukrainian port operations and agricultural exports. Although an export corridor temporarily resumed activities, the termination of the agreement in July 2023 continues to affect Ukrainian shipping. International sanctions against Russia and Belarus have notably targeted shipowners and shipbuilders, restricting Russian ships' access to OECD ports. These sanctions have also halted orders for Russian ship owners in OECD countries, reducing new orders and vessel completions in Russian shipyards. While global seaborne trade and ship demand remain relatively unaffected, the war has prompted longer-term impacts such as altered trading routes, changes in energy demand and costs, potential implications for maritime decarbonisation, and an increase in "dark fleet" vessels.
BELARUS
Amendments to laws on the use of atomic energy (2009)
Criminal law on acts concerning the use of radioactive sources and administrative law for non-criminal violations of radiation safety requirements (2009)
EGYPT
Law on activities in the nuclear and radiation field (2010)
FRANCE
Decree establishing a Committee on industrial co-ordination of radioactive waste (2010)
Law on the recognition and indemnification of victims of nuclear tests conducted by France (2010)
GERMANY
Tenth Amendment to the Atomic Energy Act (2010)
Act on Environmental Impact Assessment (2009)
Radiation Protection Commission (2009)
Act on the Protection against Non-ionizing Radiation (2009)
International transport of dangerous goods by road (2009)
IRELAND
Order to amend Regulations on Active Implantable Medical Devices (2010)
Amendment to Medical Devices Regulations (2010)
ITALY
Decree setting out rules for the siting, construction and operation of nuclear installations (2010)
ROMANIA
Law on the reorganisation of public authorities (2009)
Government Decision on the reorganisation of electric power producers (2010)
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Amendment of the Atomic Act (2009)
SPAIN
Law regulating limited investment companies quoted on the real estate market (2009)
UKRAINE
Overview of recent amendments to laws in the field of nuclear energy (2009)
BELARUS
The Statute on the State Supervision in the Field of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (2008)
Amendment to the Law on Radiation Protection of the Public (2008)
Environmental impact assessment laws (2009)
The Statute on the Discussion of Questions of the Public in the Field of Atomic Energy (2009)
BELGIUM
Decree regarding the minimum criteria for X-ray apparatus use in veterinary medicine (2009)
Decree of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control on the determination of exemption levels (2009)
ESTONIA
National Development Plan (2009)
New Radiation Safety Department (2009)
Amendment to the Radiation Protection Act (2009)
GERMANY
Ordinance on the Shipment of Radioactive Waste or Spent Fuel (2009)
Amendments to Acts and Ordinances on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (2009)
Amendments to the 1961 Foreign Trade Act and 1993 Foreign Trade Ordinance (2009)
ITALY
Law No. 99 of 23 July 2009 including provisions on the resurgence of nuclear energy (2009)
ROMANIA
Decision on the prohibition of dangerous labour for children (2009)
Amendment to the regulations on the organisation and operation of CNCAN (2009)
Decision on the repatriation of nuclear material to the Russian Federation (2009)
Decision on the processing of uranium stocks (2009)
General requirements on environmental impact assessment (2009)
SPAIN
Regulation on the transboundary shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel (2009)
Regulation on installation and use of X-ray devices for medical diagnostic purposes (2009)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Federal law on the peaceful use of nuclear energy (2009)
UNITED STATES
Final regulations criminalising unauthorised introduction of dangerous weapons (2009)
Belarus
Act on the Use of Atomic Energy (2008)
France
Safety guideline on final disposal of radioactive waste in a deep geological repository (2008)
Decree concerning the procedures applicable to foreign spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste reprocessing (2008)
Germany
Amendment to the 1986 Act on Preventive Protection of the Public Against Radiation (2008)
Order on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (2008)
Act on the 2004 Protocols to Amend the Paris Convention and the Brussels Supplementary Convention;
Act to Amend the Atomic Energy Act (2008)
Hungary
Energy Policy 2007-2020 Framework Strategy (2008)
Indonesia
Regulation on licensing of uses of ionizing radiation sources and nuclear materials (2008)
Italy
Implementing law on urgent provisions for economic development etc. (2008)
Montenegro
Law on the Environment (2008)
Romania
Decision on the organisational structure of the Nuclear Agency (2008)
Decision on the selection of the investors of Units 3 and 4 of Cernavoda NPP (2008)
Consolidated version the Civil Protection Law (2008)
National strategy for preventing emergency situations (2008)
National strategy for information sharing and communication in the event of an emergency (2008)
Russian Federation
Decree transferring responsibilities to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology (2008)
Slovak Republic
Transposition of Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom (2008)
Ukraine
Decree creating the state enterprise “Nuclear Fuel” (2008)
Amendment to the law on radioactive waste management (2008)
United Kingdom
New Ministry for Energy and Climate Change (2008)
United States
Next generation nuclear plant licensing strategy (2008)
Public health and environmental radiation protection standards for Yucca Mountain, Nevada (2008)
Inflation adjustment to the Price-Anderson Act (2008)
This chapter assesses opportunities to boost water security in Belarus by supporting the country’s ongoing reform agenda. It summarises the successes that Belarus has achieved, such as progress on harmonising its water policy with the EU’s Water Framework Directive and integrated water resources management principles as well as the development of river basin management plans for two of Belarus’s transboundary river basins. It also highlights improvements in Belarus’s inter-ministerial co-ordination on water management, efforts to achieve the water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and international co-operation on transboundary watercourses and lakes. The chapter concludes with a list of potential areas for further work to improve water security in Belarus.
This chapter lays out the policy responses to the challenges identified in Chapter 2 within the context of Belarus’s new draft Strategy of Water Resource Management in the Context of Climate Change for the Period until 2030. It describes the Strategy’s development and its objectives linked to the water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The chapter also presents instruments to support the Strategy’s implementation, notably data collection and management systems, river basin management plans and the UNECE-WHO/Europe Protocol on Water and Health. The chapter zooms in on different sectoral, regional and basin-level challenges, focusing on rural water supply and sanitation, water-use efficiency standards for water-intensive enterprises, irrigation infrastructure rehabilitation and sub-basin management plans.
Belarus has recently taken a more pro-active approach to supporting private entrepreneurship by promoting its small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). The value of private sector participation in the economy is increasingly acknowledged by the government and steps are being taken to develop a comprehensive SME support policy. SME growth could be fostered through further liberalisation of economic activities which is only progressing at a slow pace.Creating supportive policies for SMEs will only yield tangible results if progress in privatisation leads to the opening up of new business opportunities for private entrepreneurs in Belarus. Alternatively, privatisation is more likely to succeed in creating a vibrant SME sector if an enabling policy framework is in place that allows entrepreneurship to thrive.
The SME Policy Index is a benchmarking tool designed for emerging economies to assess SME policy frameworks and monitor progress in policy implementation over time. The Index has been developed by the OECD in partnership with the European Commission, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the European Training Foundation (ETF) in 2006.
For the Eastern Partner Countries, the assessment framework is structured around the ten principles of the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA), providing a wide-range of pro-enterprise measures to guide the design and implementation of SME policies based on good practices promoted by the EU and the OECD. It is applied to the Eastern Partner Countries for the second time since 2012.
The Index identifies strengths and weaknesses in policy design and implementation, allows for comparison across countries and measures convergence towards good practices and relevant policy standards. It aims to support governments in setting targets for SME policy development and to identify strategic priorities to further improve the business environment. It also helps to engage governments in policy dialogue and exchange good practices within the region and with OECD and EU members.
The SME Policy Index: Eastern Partner Countries 2020 – Assessing the Implementation of the Small Business Act for Europe is a unique benchmarking tool to assess and monitor progress in the design and implementation of SME policies against EU and international best practice. It is structured around the ten principles of the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA), which provide a wide range of pro-enterprise measures to guide the design and implementation of SME policies. This report marks the third edition in this series, following assessments in 2012 and 2016. It provides a comprehensive overview of the state of play in the implementation of the ten SBA principles, and monitors progress made since 2016. It also identifies remaining challenges affecting SMEs in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries and provides recommendations to address them based on EU and international good practice examples. The 2020 edition also features a novelty: An assessment of three new dimensions going beyond core SME policy (competition, contract enforcement and business integrity) looking at key structural reform priorities that are critical to establishing a level playing field for enterprises of all sizes and ownership types.
This chapter provides an overview of the composition and distribution of the country’s water resources across the river basins and regions (oblasts) of Belarus. It presents the effects of climate change and other anthropogenic pressures on the quantity, quality and seasonal availability of water resources as well as the progress Belarus has made over time towards a less water-intensive economy. It includes four case studies displaying the diversity of challenges facing different oblasts in Belarus with varying endowments of water resources and demographic trends and pressures. The chapter also describes the policy instruments and legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks that form the country’s water resource management system. On the subject of monitoring surface and groundwater, the chapter presents concrete examples of how the process of delineating water bodies and monitoring water quality has taken place in Belarus through the European Union Water Initiative Plus project.
This report analyses planned infrastructure projects, decision-making frameworks related to infrastructure development and strategic planning documents in the six countries of the EU Eastern Partnership: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It compares current investment flows with countries' national development objectives to identify misalignments and provides policy-makers with recommendations to improve the integration of climate change and other environmental concerns into infrastructure development decision-making processes. The report presents a comprehensive overview of infrastructure investment, primarily in the transport and energy sectors, throughout the region and identifies the risks and opportunities emerging from current investment patterns.
The COVID-19 crisis has had a profound impact on SME access to finance. In particular, the sudden drop in revenues created acute liquidity shortages, threatening the survival of many viable businesses. The report documents an increase in demand for bank lending in the first half of 2020, and a steady supply of credit thanks to government interventions. On the other hand, other sources of finance declined, in particular early-stage equity.
This paper, a special edition of Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs, focuses on the impacts of COVID-19 on SME access to finance, along with government policy responses. It reveals that the pre-crisis financing environment was broadly favourable for SMEs and entrepreneurs, who benefited from low interest rates, loose credit standards and an increasingly diverse offer of financing instruments.
It documents the unprecedented scope and scale of the policy responses undertaken by governments world-wide, and details their key characteristics, and outlines the principal issues and policy challenges for the next phases of the pandemic, such as the over-indebtedness of SMEs and the need to continue to foster a diverse range of financing instruments for SMEs.
This report presents the results of collaboration on improving water security in Belarus, between the beneficiary country, the OECD and its partners implementing the EU-funded European Union Water Initiative Plus project. It provides an overview of the composition and distribution of the country’s water resources, including the particular challenges facing different regions (oblasts), and lays out the policy responses that Belarus has taken and planned to progress its overarching policy objective of ensuring water security within the framework of the future national Water Strategy in the Context of Climate Change for the Period until 2030. The report also provides an assessment of potential opportunities to boost water security in Belarus by supporting the country’s ongoing water policy reform agenda.
This chapter briefly presents the context of Belarus’s water policy with its overarching objective to ensure water security. It outlines the work of the European Union Water Initiative Plus (EUWI+), which strives to support the harmonisation of Eastern Partnership (EaP) water resource management policies with the EU’s Water Framework Directive and integrated water resource management principles, including through the facilitation of policy dialogues on water. It highlights the efforts designed to improve strategic and mid-term planning at the national, basin and local levels. Other EUWI+ activities covered in this chapter aim to strengthen co-operation on transboundary bodies of water, improve data management and the national monitoring framework, build local capacity and execute pilot projects to enhance water security.
На основе стандартной методологии ОЭСР в исследовании приведены количественные оценки мер государственной поддержки как на потребление, так и на производство угля, нефти, нефтепродуктов, природного газа, а также электрической и тепловой энергии, производимой на основе этих видов ископаемого топлива. В докладе представлены основные выводы анализа механизмов субсидирования ископаемых видов топлива в шести странах Восточного партнерства (ВП) Европейского союза: Армении, Азербайджане, Беларуси, Грузии, Республике Молдова и Украине. В исследовании обновлены оценки публикации 2018 года «Энергетические субсидии в странах Восточного партнерства ЕС» с представлением данных и оценок за 2016-2019 годы. Анализ сфокусирован на оценке двух основных типов субсидий на ископаемые виды топлива: прямых трансфертах средств производителям и потребителям и налоговых расходах. В докладе кратко рассмотрены меры политики в области налогообложения и ценообразования в энергосекторе, которые непосредственно или косвенно влияют на динамику субсидий в этом регионе. В приложениях к докладу приведены детальные оценки всех мер поддержки для каждой из шести стран.
Как и во многих странах, пандемия COVID-19 отрицательно сказалась на экономике стран Восточной Европы, Кавказа и Центральной Азии, ответные меры правительств которых заключались в смягчении воздействия пандемии на систему здравоохранения и оказании поддержки затронутым пандемией предприятиям и работникам. В рамках ответных мер, большинство стран ВЕКЦА также реализовали меры, которые могут способствовать достижению экологических целей. Тем не менее многое еще остается сделать, чтобы планы восстановления ускорили переход к «зеленой» экономике, тем самым повышая устойчивость к внешним шокам. В настоящем отчете проводится анализ мер, направленных на борьбу с COVID-19, предпринимаемых в 11 странах ВЕКЦА, на основании их потенциала к ускорению перехода к более «зеленой», стойкой к изменению климата и низкоуглеродной экономике. В рекомендациях предлагаются способы обеспечения содействия усилий правительств восстановлению экономики с учетом целей по борьбе с изменением климата, сохранению биологического разнообразия и расширению природоохранной деятельности.
Настоящий отчет представляет результаты сотрудничества в области повышения водной безопасности Республики Беларусь с ОЭСР и ее партнерами по реализации финансируемого Европейским союзом проекта Водная инициатива Европейского союза плюс для стран Восточного партнерства. Он содержит обзор наличия и распределения водных ресурсов в стране, а также связанных с ними особых вызовов, стоящих перед различными областями Беларуси, и рассматривает запланированные меры политики для достижения всеобъемлющих целей водной политики Беларуси по обеспечению водной безопасности в рамках будущей национальной "Водной Стратегии Республики Беларусь на период до 2030 года, в условиях изменения климата". Настоящий отчет также включает в себя оценку возможностей повышения водной безопасности Беларуси посредством оказания поддержки программе водохозяйственных реформ, осуществляемой в стране.