MINSK, March 28, 2008 (AFP) - The head of Belarus's state oil company Belneftekhim has been sentenced to five years in jail after being arrested last year as part of a swoop against several top executives, court officials said Thursday.

'Alexander Borovsky was convicted of abuse of his position,' officials said, adding that the sentence came into force immediately and could not be appealed.

Belneftekhim, a multi-billion-dollar group which owns various petrochemical concerns in Belarus, accounts for half of the country's exports.