Report on state of affairs in agricultural sector

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko received a report on the state of affairs in the agricultural sector on 29 October.

"When we report to our people of what has been achieved over the past five years, we should clearly say what we will do. That is the policy. We all are good with words. We probably have dozens of people who talk smoothly loud. A politician, a future President, should be able to talk smoothly. But the main thing is to say clear what you will do," the Belarusian leader emphasized.

Speaking about the agricultural sector, Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that the country has already done a lot and has experience, but it is important to decide how to move forward... "We need to help farmers. You know, rural communities are dwindling. Mr Kukharev [Minsk mayor} is sucking the countryside dry. Minsk is already 2 million and getting larger and larger. Well, farmers must have perks and benefits because people need to be fed. These 2 million in Minsk want to eat every day. From small children to adults. We have learned to do this. We are doing it very well," the Belarusian leader said.

He noted that the quality of domestic food products is also appreciated abroad, and even heads of state sometimes ask him to send them something to try.

"Therefore, we have learned to do it. But so far we have reached some plateau and cannot do better. We must aspire higher. This is our main message and promise to the Belarusian people during this pre-election period," the head of state said.

On the reasons for inviting Minsk mayor, Minsk Oblast governor to the meeting

Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shuleiko, Agriculture and Food Minister Anatoly Linevich, Minsk Mayor Vladimir Kukharev and Chairman of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee Aleksandr Turchin were invited to the meeting with the head of state. 

"We previously agreed that we choose a convenient time in terms of the situation ‘on the ground’. I mean the autumn field work and the preparations for the winter period," the head of state said.

The deputy prime minister and the minister have been invited to report on the situation in the agricultural sector. Aleksandr Lukashenko explained the reasons for inviting the heads of Minsk Oblast and the city of Minsk to the conversation: "I invited the governor so that you could report objectively. He will tell you where you performed well and where you underperformed. He will confirm whether things are as good as you report, or they are completely bad. I invited the Minsk mayor so that we could tell publicly how we will help agriculture next year."

On Minsk’s assistance to the regions

The President recalled that some time ago Minsk provided significant assistance to Minsk Oblast with the construction of modern dairy complexes. The logic of this decision was to help those who feed the capital city. But this rightly raised questions from the governors of other regions who also supply food to Minsk in considerable volumes.

"You remember that Yuri Shuleiko [the former governor of Brest Oblast] was very unhappy with the assistance to Minsk Oblast.

Back then he was right by asking: “Why didn't Vladimir Yevgenyevich [Kukharev, Minsk Mayor] help me build at least one cattle-breeding complex?” After all, Brest supplies milk to Minsk, as well as all the other regions do,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“You may consider it as a joke but if we do not help them, they will not vote for us. That is why we need to promise them to build at least one complex in every region. If you cannot find funds for it in Minsk, I will be ready to help,” Aleksandr Lukashenko told Vladimir Kukharev.

Advice to Presidential candidates

The President emphasized that he was talking about it quite seriously. “With the current situation in the country, people, never mind governors, are not going to fall for our talking only. People need to be shown what is being done. This is the right thing to do. Therefore, launching the Presidential campaign (I represent you, the government), we must show everything to our people,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

According to him, the situation has changed in general, and experience is of utmost importance for every candidate: “If someone is going to use only their old experience, they should be very careful. Perhaps I should not say this at all. My advice to candidates is to understand the current problems and see the ways to address them.”

Call to be specific in making promises

Speaking about promises to people, Aleksandr Lukashenko cited a number of examples.

One of them was about road construction. “If we talk about road construction, we need to know for sure where and how to do it. I have already voiced what is left to be done. We need to connect agro-towns to regional centers. We have done a lot already. There is just a little work [is left to be done]. But we must also involve in these projects the large villages, which used to be the centers of farming. Do not forget about them. Even though most people live in agro-towns, there are still many of people living in both large villages and smaller ones. Many of them are elderly. We cannot leave them behind. We need to take care of them," the President said.

The work on the quality of food products starts from the farm and the dairy complex. "We have already made a lot of progress. We know what and how to do it, what technologies to use. We have built a lot of these complexes. We must tell people candidly that in the next five years we will solve the issue of dairy complexes. A milking herd, cows should live in these 'palaces' in order to produce pure milk. After all, cows deserve it," Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.

He noted that it will take only a few more years for Minsk Oblast to finally solve this issue. "We need to give boost to Vitebsk Oblast, Mogilev Oblast, partly to Gomel Oblast. I think they do not have any big problems that would prevent the construction of these complexes. Most importantly, we know exactly what they should be and what is needed to build them. Moreover, this is an import-substituting product. We do not need anything from abroad. We can produce everything ourselves," the President said.

New personnel in agriculture

Taking everything into account, the head of state urges the government officials  responsible for the agricultural sector to take more active and decisive actions: "As far as agriculture is concerned, we did not really make headway in terms of new personnel. A new deputy prime minister, a new vaunted minister, but so far... It is not getting worse, but not much better. Maybe apart from Minsk Oblast. The regional governor had a lot of help, including from the city of Minsk [with the construction of complexes]."