Aleksandr Lukashenko hears out report of Teleradiocompany Chairman Gennady Davydko

On 27 November President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Chairman of the National State Teleradiocompany of Belarus Gennady Davydko to receive his report.

“Everyone – you and other channels that use state budget support – should understand clearly that the next year the budget support will be reduced considerably. And not because the state budget has run out of money. You are an enterprise. You should earn your living. People should feel it,” stressed the President.

“I would like to warn you that we are going to reform all the bodies that use state budget funds. There is a multitude of them in the country, including the Belarusian State Teleradiocompany. My demand is a 25-30% reduction and better effectiveness. You must feel it already,” noted the head of state. “Therefore, modernization and reformation concerns your enterprise, too,” Aleksandr Lukashenko told Gennady Davydko.

Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that reformation will involve many areas, all the bodies, the production sector and the ideology part alike. According to the President, the Belarusian State Teleradiocompany is kind of an enterprise, too. It receives part of the funding from the state budget and has to earn part of the funding on its own.

“It should be borne in mind that next year little by little we will keep you away from this support, including our main channels, in order for you to earn money on your own. Good TV products are required for it. You need novelties to get viewers interested,” believes the President.

“As far as I know, ONT gets little or nothing from the state budget. But it is as popular as your channel,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko. “I like your channel more in some aspects, you do some things better. It is a matter of preference. I don’t want to voice opinions. Specialists will give them in the near future when we create our own appraisal company, so to say, which will provide objective appraisal”.