Diversification of commodity exports of Belarus to the European Union

The relevance of the research is due to the insufficient development of theoretical foundations for the diversification of commodity exports of the Republic of Belarus the lack of a methodology for its assessment and directions of stimulation. Predominant specialization of national export to the EU on the goods of extractive industries on the one hand contributes to the growth of positive foreign trade balance and on the other hand is the reason for the reduction of the nomenclature and profitability of export of processing and knowledge-intensive industries. Significant dependence of export on supplies of raw materials of the petrochemical complex is risky for the small open economy because a sharp drop in hydrocarbon prices at the world market especially in the context of the global financial crisis will significantly reduce currency revenues to the Republic of Belarus from the EU countries. One of the ways to increase the stability of the country''s foreign income to fluctuations of world commodity prices is the diversification of export flows at the expense of goods from knowledge-intensive industries the prices of which are more stable.