Grodno-Azot is a Belarusian chemical company that seeks to use crypto payments to get around the economic sanctions imposed by the United States on Belarus. Dmitry Goroshko (Director-General for Economics and Finance at Grodno-Azot) stated that he was assessing the feasibility of making payments in cryptocurrency to ‘build an economic digital economy at the company’.
After Aleksandr Lukashenko (the Belarusian President, who is not recognized as a legitimate Head-of-State by many countries around the world), issued Decree 8 regarding the digital economy, 2017, Belarus legalized cryptos.
Grodno-Azot, a joint-stock Belarusian state-run producer and exporter of nitrogen compounds, is based in Grodno. It employs over 7,000 people. As Igor Lyashenko (the CEO of the firm) was added to US sanctions on August 9, 2021, Igor Lyashenko became subject to US sanctions.
Lukashenko also imprisoned Grodno–Azot workers as it was suspicious that the workers were trying to circumvent international sanctions. The chemicals company didn’t disclose any major details regarding the crypto plans to adopt to bypass these sanctions as of press time. This could be in line with the secrecy Lukashenko was trying to ensure about its economic plans, according to his most recent statements to state media.
Crypto Industry Status in Belarus
Despite the turmoil in Belarus, the crypto market continues to grow. Belarusbank, the country’s largest bank, launched cryptocurrency selling and buying services with WhiteBird at the end of 2020. The services will initially be available to customers of the bank in Belarus and Russia. The bank plans to expand its offer of digital currencies and add countries to the list.
These new services allow customers to purchase and sell cryptocurrencies with Visa cards. Belarusbank, a state-owned bank, has a 99.95% government share. In 1995, the bank was reorganized by merging with Sberbank of Belarus.
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