Belarus President makes new appointments

President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko made new appointments on 27 January. The head of state appointed:

	Ivan Romanovich	First Deputy Chairman of the State Control Committee
	Igor Sokol	Head of the Office of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus
	Irina Kangro	First Deputy Chairperson of the National Statistics Committee
	Zhanna Vasilevskaya	Deputy Chairperson of the National Statistics Committee
	Yevgeny Kovalenko	Director of the National Center of Legal Information

Aleksandr Lukashenko also appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Syrian Arab Republic Alexander Ponomarev Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Lebanese Republic on concurrent.

The President approved the appointment of:

	Dmitry Demidov	as Chairman of the Novopolotsk Town Executive Committee
	Vladimir Dranevsky	as Chairman of the Braslav District Executive Committee
	Sergei Yegorov	as Chairman of the Tolochin District Executive Committee
	Oleg Plavsky	as Deputy Chairman of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee
	Viktor Sirenko	as Deputy Chairman of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee
	Andrei Zubar	as Chairman of the Cherven District Executive Committee
	Alexander Butarev	as Chairman of the Kirovsk District Executive Committee
	Igor Klepcha	as First Deputy Taxes and Duties Minister
	Gennady Svidersky	as First Deputy Industry Minister
	Alexander Dubkovsky	as Deputy Sport and Tourism Minister
	Yuri Seliverstov	as Deputy Finance Minister
	Irina Kostevich	as Deputy Economy Minister
	Mikhail Chashchin	as Director of the Informatization Department of the Communications and Informatization Ministry
	Sergei Bobko	as Director of the Department for Construction Audit of the State Standardization Committee
	Vadim Zaryankin	as a member of the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee

The head of state stressed: “To say that you take up new executive positions in a difficult period is to say nothing. The time is very difficult both from the economic and political points of view. I will reiterate that we, the same as our neighbors and many other states, are still being affected by the global economic crisis. We have not thrown our state into the whirlpool of this crisis as many suggested it. We have chosen another way out, suppressing the oncoming crisis and protecting people. That means we entered the crisis very softly. Now, taking into account the fact that this period has protracted, we will need more time to come out of the crisis. We had already found the way we should have followed until the external circumstances changed in late 2014. The collapse of the Russian market and the Russian currency (Russia accounts for a half of our exports) has seriously affected our economy.”

The President assured that Belarus will overcome the crisis. In his words, the country has been working hard to diversify the markets for its goods. “The new government has been working in earnest to achieve results. However, we will not be able to do anything without your on-site work. Everything that benefits the state and its people is created there where you start working tomorrow,” the head of state noted.

The current situation is difficult but not critical, Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Speaking about salaries of civil servants, the President stressed: “The remuneration of civil servants, first of all, administrators, is a matter of serious concern now. We have never experienced such a downturn and have never lagged behind the manufacturing industry in terms of the average monthly salary; we have never had such a ratio to the average salary in the country. We are lagging behind considerably. I hope you understand that a sharp pay rise for civil servants during this time will cause a certain response on the part of people.”

The head of state believes that salaries for civil servants should be increased, but this should be done by means of optimization, reduction of the state apparatus, and reduction of its functions. This is the only way to go, the President is convinced.

He called on the newly-appointed officials to act carefully and warned against hasty action. In particular, the President emphasized: "I urge you to act carefully on your new posts, especially the chairmen of district executive committees. Please, give an opportunity and a chance to the people who already work there. Set some timeframe, say, three or six months and see who do the job well and who do not. Say goodbye to those who do not cope. Or transfer them to other jobs.”

The head of state urged a careful attitude to the people, including subordinates. "Be very careful: you are on the front line, so to speak. We have always put the concern for people in the center of attention. Of course, in the run-up to the presidential elections we do not hide it: This work should be updated and focused. Working with people is the cornerstone of your work. Please, take this into account,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.