Aleksandr Lukashenko hears out accomplishment report from interagency working group on agricultural problems

    A set of measures to improve the performance of the Belarusian agribusiness must be worked out and implemented in Belarus. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the relevant statement on 6 May as he heard out an accomplishment report from the interagency working group tasked with resolving problems in agriculture.

    The President reminded that agriculture is not the only area, which problems have to be analyzed and addressed in line with the given instructions. “We are now dealing with the problems that our population is very much concerned about. Further normal life of our society is impossible without the resolution of these problems,” stressed Aleksandr Lukashenko.

    “We have tried to use the approach to analyze the state of affairs in the civil engineering industry. It seems we have managed to do it, we’ll see how it will turn out in practice, the relevant decision has been made. I would like to remind you, [Head of the Belarus President Administration] Andrei Vladimirovich [Kobyakov], that 1 July is the deadline: we are to fulfill everything I have said at the relevant government session whatever the cost,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.

    The President remarked that Belarusian people are also concerned about the development of the housing and utilities industry. A working group led by Chairman of the State Control Committee Alexander Yakobson is analyzing this area.

    According to the head of state, not everything is smooth as far as agriculture is concerned. The lack of returns and poor performance of agricultural enterprises represent the key problem. The President remarked that some of the issues regarding the reasons behind the state of affairs in agriculture lie on the surface but there are some other issues, including hidden reasons, complicated and simple ones alike. An interagency working group led by the prime minister had been instructed to reveal them and suggest ways to resolve them. “The group was supposed to uncover the reasons behind the poor overall operation of the agriculture with regard to the return on relevant investments. The group was also supposed to outline ways to address the situation and secure the effective development of agribusiness and allied industries,” said the head of state.

    Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that “the agrarian group” led by Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich had analyzed the issues and had suggested a kind of a roadmap that should be implemented in the Belarusian agriculture for the sake of achieving at least some results in 2014 and 2015.

    The President asked those reporting to omit details. “If today we decide that the group has done its job and, like we did with construction problems, we can reach out to a large number of people, to specialists and talk to them about the development of Belarusian agriculture tomorrow, about its effectiveness, then in the near future all of it will be reviewed together with a large number of specialists,” explained the President. “We have to tell people directly that we are going to do this and that and what we want them to do, too”.