Report of Belarus’ Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko

The situation in the economy and at the country’s biggest enterprises was discussed at a meeting of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko with Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko.

“Frankly speaking, I would like our economy to perform at least not worse than the economies of the neighboring countries to upset our enemies and foes, as people say,” the head of state said. Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that the most important thing is not just statistics on GDP, but real sales of manufactured goods: “Of course, if we reached the goals we set and had the same GDP as last year… The GDP should not be generated by overproduction of tractors and vehicles. We should be able to sell the goods we manufacture. This is of paramount importance.”

The President wanted to know the growth forecast for 2021 and asked the prime minister to brief him on this topic. “We will meet again in a broader circle and discuss our plans for 2021. We will outline the targets of our five-year plan at the Belarusian People's Congress,” the head of state noted.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also asked about the situation at enterprises that saw attempts, including from abroad, to foment tensions by calling for ultimatums and strikes. “Kudos to the working class and our engineering intelligentsia. They have realized what they could lose. The people are not the same as they were even a month ago. They saw those who wanted to come to power. That was useful, too. The recent events taught a good lesson. Nevertheless, what is your take on the situation in the economy and our leading enterprises?” the President asked.

According to Roman Golovchenko, judging from the figures of January-September 2020, the situation in the economy has not only stabilized, but also entered the track of outrunning growth. “In the third quarter we almost caught up with the growth rate of 2019. This is all happening in very difficult conditions. Agriculture, construction, information and communications, financial sector and science are traditionally the biggest contributors to GDP,” he said.