Belarusians Are Expecting Important Changes In December
- 27.11.2025, 20:21
Bank innovations, big weekends, summer tire fines and more.
December in Belarus will bring several important changes - from fines for summer tires and restrictions on traffic on the Moscow Ring Road to new rules of banks and long weekends. Another EU sanctions package comes into force, Belavia returns to Almaty, and schools are preparing for winter vacations, writes Onliner.
Bank changes
From December 1, Belarusbank introduces changes to the rules of use and terms of provision, maintenance and use of payment cards.
There will be an additional opportunity to block the card through a call to the contact center. The call should be made from the cell phone number specified in the bank's accounting system. Another change concerns the issue of the card after its expiration: a new card will be issued with a different unique number.
MTBank from December 2 will reduce the commission for account statements: for a period of less than 12 months - from 20 to 10 rubles, for a period of 12 months and more - from 50 to 20 rubles. Exception - statements generated for the last 95 calendar days, which will remain free of charge. In the Internet bank you can generate a statement for any period for free.
In addition, the bank reduces the minimum commission for transfers in Russian rubles in favor of an individual or legal entity outside the bank - it will be Br20 instead of Br150 (the size of the commission - 0.7% of the amount - remains).
In Priorbank from December 3, the rules of card-to-card transfers abroad will change: during the week you can make no more than 20 transfers to one card.
BNB-Bank will introduce limits for contactless cash withdrawal from ATMs from December 22 - $1700 for Mastercard World Elite and Visa Infinite cards, $350 for other cards of BNB-Bank.
These limits apply only to cash withdrawals by contactless method - when you put a card, smartphone or smartwatch with a payment application (Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Swoo Pay, Xiaomi Pay, "Belkart Pay") to the ATM. If you need to withdraw more than this limit, you need to insert the card into the ATM - then the standard limits will apply, depending on the type of card.
The 19th package of sanctions will come into force
The latest EU sanctions package mentions three Belarusian banks: Alfa Bank, Sber Bank, VTB Bank.
According to Alfa Bank, the cards will continue to work both in Belarus and abroad. There may be some difficulties when paying in Europe - due to the decisions of some foreign counterparties. In addition, Apple Pay will stop working in December, so the bank is preparing an alternative - special payment stickers, other solutions are under consideration.
Fine for summer tires
Before December 1, you need to switch to winter tires. If you fail to do so, you can be fined up to 1 basic unit (42 rubles).
For a repeated violation, you face a fine of 2 to 5 basic units (from 84 to 210 rubles).
The traffic on the Moscow Ring Road
From December 1, the movement of tractors and self-propelled machines will be prohibited on one section of the Moscow Ring Road. The restriction will be in effect in both directions from the junction with the local passage of Vaupshasova Street and Lipkovskaya Street to the junction with Viktor Turov Street and the highway N-9034.
The detour of this section is possible by the following routes:
the highway N-9034 - Selitsky Street - Partizansky Avenue;
the local passage of the Moscow Ring Road - Vaupshasova Street - Radialnaya Street - Kabushkina Street - Tashkentskaya Street - Uborevicha Street.
Big Weekend
This year Catholic Christmas, December 25, falls on Thursday, so they decided to make Friday, December 26, a holiday. So it will be possible to rest four days in a row - from December 25 to 28.
But at the end of the year there will be another working Saturday - December 20, we'll work on Friday, December 26.
Belavia will again fly to Almaty
The first flight is scheduled for December 18.
Flights to Kazakhstan will be carried out on Mondays and Thursdays, while back - on Tuesdays and Fridays. Departure from Minsk - at 20:20, arrival in Almaty - at 03:10; departure from Almaty - at 04:10, arrival in Minsk - at 07:30. The time difference between the two cities - 2 hours.
Tickets will cost from Br659 one-way and from Br1169 round-trip (fare "Light").
Review the prices of cigarettes
Maximum retail prices are updated every month and published on the website of the Ministry of Taxes and Levies. It is not yet known which cigarettes will go up in price in December.
Fir tree markets
They usually start working in Minsk in the second half of December. They offer not only cut Christmas trees, but also trees in tubs.
Winter vacation for schoolchildren
This year, schoolchildren will go on vacation on December 25. Children will have two weeks off and will return to school on January 8, 2026.