Belarus President makes new appointments

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made new appointments on 20 March.

The head of state approved the appointment of:

• Fyodor Rimashevsky as First Deputy Chairman of the Minsk City Hall;
• Alexander Krepak as Deputy Chairman of the Minsk City Hall;
• Igor Yurkevich as Deputy Chairman of the Minsk City Hall;
• Andrei Zhailovich as Head of the Moskovsky District Administration of Minsk.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the city functions well these days, however, development levels might have been much higher. To fix the problem, the President gave instructions to adjust the pricing policy, ensure an increase in salaries, and resolve the population employment problem.

“There must be no unemployment. Besides, there is a lot of work to do in Minsk after spring began. It is necessary to give work to all the people, who are out of jobs. Everyone must be employed,” stressed the head of state. “It is necessary to help those, who want to work and can work. Those, who don’t want — their number is small — must be made to work. This is why, do everything to employ people as much as possible.”

As far as the size of salaries is concerned, the President believes that paying the average salary of $500 in Minsk is just ridiculous. The average salary in the capital city has to be way higher than that in the regions, said Aleksandr Lukashenko. If it is done, the country's average salary will rise as well.

“It is understandable that the resolution of this problem will go hand in hand with the resolution of other ones. It is impossible to raise salaries without raising labor productivity. This is why salaries need to be raised if labor productivity is raised. After all, higher output is the idea although it depends in some cases. It is necessary to sell something in order to get money. Cause and effect. But we should accomplish the task. A lot in Belarus will depend on how Minsk lives and works. This is why grab the authority and start acting,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko. “I will not tolerate inaction. I am telling you sincerely that either you start acting and produce results, fulfill the president’s instructions or I will make my decisions, most serious ones at that.”

The head of state noted that Minsk should become an example for the entire country. “It is necessary to overcome existing barriers. It is necessary to raise people’s living standards. Please, make it so. I don’t want more than that from you. Take care of the three tasks I’ve mentioned for now: salaries, employment, and prices. It is what people are most worried about. We will handle the rest. Nobody would roam the streets then. Nobody would call for a revolution then. Nobody would call for people to stage some bloodshed. Nobody would if we handle these tasks. These are natural tasks that any government has to handle. Moreover, our state is a social one. We should survive and prove to everyone that the social state model is the optimal model for a safe and normally developing state,” said the Belarusian leader.

The President remarked that the current system should not be demolished under the guise of reforms. It is necessary to improve upon the existing structure. “We sometimes tend to resort to reforms to address problems. A most foolish way of thinking. People want their crucial problems resolved today. Let’s reform the things that need reforming. Let’s improve the things in need of improving. But reformation must not be understood as ‘Let’s demolish everything and build anew’. First of all, it is not a good time for demolishing. Second, it takes a long time to demolish things and build anew. Even you would not see the fruit of your labor then. It is not our way. We should grow from what we have. We should improve what we have,” Aleksandr Lukashenko was convinced. “What we don’t need will fade away or we will get rid of it. But bulldozing the country with reforms… The reforms we are being offered are obviously not the ones we need. Those are absolutely not the reforms people would like. Those are not our kind of reforms. This is why let’s get on with things the way we can. These are crucial tasks that we have to deal with.”

The head of state also instructed the officials to act promptly: “Sometimes decisions would not be made. People, who bring proposals, would be sent from one official to another. People may bring different proposals but their heart is in those proposals. Many people bring correct proposals while no actions are taken upon them. Is it the way things should be done?”

“Minsk should get better and better every month in order to set an example for the entire country,” concluded the President.