Belarus Bans Import and Sale of Armenian ‘Yerevan 2800’ Brandy

Belarus has banned the import and sale of an Armenian brandy after regulators said laboratory tests found it did not meet required standards, a move that comes as relations between Yerevan and Minsk remain strained following a bitter dispute between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

The ban covers the eight-year-old “Yerevan 2800” brandy produced by MAP CJSC in Armenia’s Armavir region. Belarus’ State Committee for Standardization classified the product as hazardous and prohibited its import, sale and circulation beginning Sept. 3.

According to the regulator, laboratory tests found a tannin concentration of 0.14 ± 0.01 grams per cubic decimeter. The minimum required level is 0.3 grams per cubic decimeter.

The agency said the test results meant the drink could not be identified as the type of product under which it was being marketed. Belarusian authorities also suspended its conformity assessment documents and ordered the product removed from circulation.

The regulator has not linked the decision to the political dispute between Armenia and Belarus, and there is no evidence that the ban was imposed in retaliation against Yerevan.

Still, it comes at a time when relations between the two countries have been damaged by Lukashenko’s close relationship with Azerbaijan and his comments about the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.

The dispute erupted publicly in 2024 after Lukashenko visited Azerbaijan and spoke about conversations he had held with President Ilham Aliyev before the 44-day war. Pashinyan later accused Lukashenko of acknowledging that he had supported and expected an Azerbaijani victory, despite Belarus and Armenia being allies in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.

Pashinyan responded in June 2024 by declaring that he would not travel to Belarus as long as Lukashenko remained president. He also said Armenian officials would stay away from the country.

The fallout quickly moved beyond rhetoric. Armenia recalled its ambassador to Belarus for consultations, and Minsk responded by recalling its ambassador from Yerevan.

The tensions surfaced again during a televised Eurasian Economic Union meeting in December 2024. After Lukashenko urged Pashinyan to attend the bloc’s next summit in Minsk and offered to send a plane for the Armenian delegation, Pashinyan rejected the invitation and said Armenia would participate remotely. He made clear that his earlier decision on official travel to Belarus remained unchanged.

The breakdown in relations followed years of unease in Yerevan over Minsk’s ties with Baku. Belarus supplied weapons to Azerbaijan even as it remained Armenia’s formal CSTO ally, including Polonez multiple-launch rocket systems that Azerbaijan displayed publicly in 2018.

Those disputes have become part of Armenia’s broader criticism of the CSTO. Yerevan froze its participation in the alliance after accusing the organization and its members of failing to meet their security commitments to Armenia.

Despite the political rift, Armenia and Belarus remain members of the Eurasian Economic Union, alongside Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The bloc is intended to facilitate trade and the movement of goods among its members.

Belarusian authorities said the action against the Armenian brandy was based on product standards. The regulator has taken similar action against other foreign alcohol: a six-year-old Georgian brandy, “Sachukari Traditional,” was previously barred from sale over a similar standards violation.

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