Belarus President makes personnel decisions

On 3 December Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made several personnel decisions.

The head of state appointed:

Alexander Kazimirovich Averyanov Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Poland;

Alexander Mikhailovich Korol Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Lithuania;

Andrei Vladimirovich Savinykh Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Turkey with concurrent accreditation to Iraq;

Viktor Vasilyevich Kozintsev Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Argentina;

Dmitry Georgiyevich Kuptel Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Ethiopia, Resident Representative of Belarus in the African Union, Resident Representative of Belarus in the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) on concurrent;

Andrei Alexandrovich Yevdochenko Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus with concurrent accreditation to Luxembourg;

Vladimir Nikolayevich Chushev Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Montenegro with concurrent accreditation to Macedonia;

Alexander Frantsevich Khainovsky Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Bosnia and Herzegovina on concurrent.

The President also approved the appointment of:

Sergei Ivanovich Mikhnevich as Consul General of Belarus in the city of Gdansk, Poland;

Igor Vasilyevich Nazaruk as Director of the Foreign Economic Activities Department of the Foreign Ministry.

Presenting candidates for ambassadorial positions, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei remarked that most of them have second university degrees in economics, which is particularly important taking into account the head of state’s instruction to raise export.

Virtually all the appointed ambassadors will work as heads of diplomatic missions for the first time. Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded about his requirement to appoint people to such positions on the basis of their skills instead of patronage. Vladimir Makei assured Aleksandr Lukashenko that the Belarusian Foreign Ministry follows the policy.

The President remarked that Foreign Ministry workers and diplomats should cooperate with the youth more actively, should visit universities more frequently in order to read lectures and deliver speeches before future diplomatic workers. “No one can deliver a lecture or tell future diplomats about their future work better than you can,” said the head of state.

Addressing the ambassadors appointed to Poland and Lithuania, Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked: “They are our neighbors. Whatever today’s relations may be, nobody can choose neighbors. We have to aim for positive work, seek contacts with them, and cooperate with them. We do it anyway, it is our policy. If we fail sometimes, it is not our failures. I blame inadequate requirements pressed by the other side, the requirements that we cannot accept today and I don’t think we will be able to accept them tomorrow or the day after tomorrow”.

The President stressed that the promotion of cooperation with Turkey and Iraq is very important. In his words, Iraq shows a great interest in Belarus, various proposals are submitted by businessmen and politicians. Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that the restoration of the country will soon begin, therefore it is necessary to grab the opportunity and offer Iraq a wide choice of Belarusian products.

Addressing the new head of the Belarusian diplomatic mission in Turkey and Iraq, the head of state underlined that Iraq should not trail behind the mission’s work with Turkey. It is necessary for the ambassador and members of the government as well as heads of enterprises to work harder in this direction.

Speaking about Turkey, the President said that trade and economic relations could use more dynamics. “Such relations with Turkey are unforgivable. Everything is normal in politics while economy, trade and economic cooperation are no good at all. Turkey has been well-disposed towards Belarus lately and we should use it,” said the head of state. Aleksandr Lukashenko drew attention to the relative proximity of the country to Belarus, therefore, there should be no problems with exporting Belarusian merchandise to Turkey.

The President underlined the importance of cooperation with African countries for Belarus.

Addressing Ambassador to Ethiopia, Resident Representative of Belarus in the African Union Dmitry Kuptel, the Belarus President remarked that harder work was required in Ethiopia. It is necessary to reach for neighboring African countries and continue contacts with the African Union, he said.

“Politics be as it may, but trade and economic cooperation as well as export are priorities for our foreign economic activities. We cannot avoid it,” stressed the head of state. “We don’t need geopolitics, we are not going to play that game that is played by 7-8 prominent nations. We absolutely don’t need it. We need politics in order to represent the country, protect its interests. Trade and export constitute the rest. It is task number one”.

“We cannot but care about export. If we secure export, we will have foreign currency and then our political opponents will have nothing to say. They have one problem and one kind of talk in mind — destabilizing the Belarusian currency market. It is their primary goal. They believe that the country will fall if the currency market falls. Nothing of the kind! Nobody is going to fall. But the problem has to be taken care of. Earning more foreign currency for the country is the only way out,” said the President.

Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded the diplomats that they should work to establish contacts, which are vital for bolstering trade and economic ties, and should enable conditions to allow heads of enterprises and members of the government to work to that effect.