The newly-appointed diplomat, a specialist in economics and trade, said his country was keen to work with Australian enterprises to modernise its $US82 billion a year economy.

He told Fairfax the advent of the internet had created an information culture which has ended decades of government media monopoly and defended the country of 9.5 million people's relatively slow pace of reform, noting while the state still owned many enterprises they at least remained national assets.

This was a better result than in other other parts of the former Soviet Union where post-glasnost sell-offs had enriched a few at the expense of throwing hundreds of thousands out of work.

Mr Shykh said Belarus was well placed to act as an intermediary between Russia and Ukraine in their long-running territorial dispute and hoped the conflict could be resolved without further violence and death.

"We are well placed to facilitate communication between the two parties," he said. "We understand both sides and appreciate both points of view."

Belarus's push to achieve economic reform was the driving force behind the decision to establish an embassy in Australia for the first time since the country became independent in August 1991.

"We are open for co-operation with all the world," he said. "Australia was the only continent, apart from Antarctica, where there was no (Belarusian) diplomatic presence.

"Belarus is now in economic transition. We export the majority of what we produce. We have highly developed industry such as big machinery, petrochemistry and radio electronics. There are opportunities for our producers and exporters."

The embassy could offer help and advice to Australian businesses entering the Belarusian market. Foreign investment is seen as one way of reducing the dependence on state-owned enterprises.

"One of our (the embassy's) aims is to show Australians we are open to do business and (in turn) to reduce the state-owned dependence from 70 per cent to 40 per cent or 50 per cent."

The 57-year-old ambassador has decades of experience in the trade area. He previously served as an ambassador to Romania and France and oversaw international agreements while working for his country's Economic Relations Ministry in the 1990s.

Mr Shykh has lived through some remarkable transitions. He was born when Belarus was a Soviet satellite state behind the iron curtain.

He said his son, Konstantin, who worked at the local embassy as intern earlier this year, had grown up in a very different world.

"He (Konstantin) has more opportunities for broadening his outlook," Mr Shykh said. "He is creating his own life."

The ambassador said when he was young it was clearly understood the state would give advice on where an individual's talents could be used best.

" I am glad my son is living in the new conditions, but I would never say that everything was so bad during my own youth," he said. "Social security and wellbeing, secondary education and higher education were all of a very high standard.

"Medical services and education were free. Also, relations between people have changed. The market emphasises different things in relationships. It doesn't mean they are worse, but they are different."

The ambassador has not ruled out the possibility of a return to the Australian market by Belarus, the nation's agricultural machinery manufacturer which received a lukewarm local response in the 1970s and 1980s.

"We know some Belarus tractors are still used in Australia," he said. "There was not bad feedback about these.

"If we could find some dealer (who was interested) we would be happy to meet. We understand personnel and market conditions better now, we would not only sell tractors but provide service and support."