Working trip to Kirovsk District, Mogilev Oblast

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko was on a working trip to Mogilev Oblast on 28 August. The head of state toured the Rassvet agricultural enterprise in Kirovsk District.

Right after arrival the head of state asked Aleksandr Bagel, the head of the agricultural enterprise OAO Rassvet named after K.P. Orlovsky, about the state of affairs at the enterprise in detail. The President was informed about various aspects of OAO Rassvet’s work: progress of the harvesting campaign, yields of agricultural crops, and animal husbandry. After hearing out Aleksandr Bagel, Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that OAO Rassvet is doing quite well. “Well done for putting the enterprise to rights,” the head of state praised the head of the agricultural enterprise.

At the same time the same cannot be said about nearby agricultural enterprises. Agricultural enterprises of Minsk Oblast were also mentioned. “There is a catastrophe between the towns of Cherven and Berezino. I always worry about these districts of Minsk Oblast. The fields are not cultivated. This is what makes me sad,” the President remarked.

Aleksandr Lukashenko added that those fields are just like the ones OAO Rassvet has where the situation is so much better. “Our executives travel along the roads just like they did in the past. They drive along a road and see that everything near the road is cultivated and good. Nearly as good as in OAO Rassvet. But farther on (I can see it, everything is visible from a helicopter) everything is overgrown with goldenrods, with this golden weed. Men, it won’t do,” the President said.

Speaking about OAO Rassvet named after K.P. Orlovsky, Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled that in the days of the Soviet Union this agricultural enterprise located in Kirovsk District demonstrated excellent performance not only on the scale of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) but the entire USSR. The first head of this agricultural enterprise was Kirill Orlovsky, whom Aleksandr Lukashenko described as a man of merit. “Without him such an agricultural enterprise would not exist,” the head of state is convinced.

One of the topics discussed during the meeting was potato cultivation. In Belarus, potatoes are grown mainly by private farmers and households, and to a lesser extent by agricultural enterprises. However, while farmers have smaller areas for planting, their yields are higher thanks to strict adherence to farming technologies.

Following shortages in retail potato supply in the spring of this year, a decision was made to increase the area under cultivation for this important crop.

“I advised you to increase the potato planting area. As you can see, we were right to do so,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. All the participants agreed the decision was wise.

The head of state noted that high demand for Belarusian potatoes is likely to remain abroad this year, particularly in neighboring Russia. During the spring shortage there, even seed potatoes were sold, meaning it will not be possible to quickly expand planting areas. A similar proposal to sell seed potatoes was also voiced by some officials in Belarus, but the President’s response was unequivocal: “They suggested selling the seed potatoes in the spring. I said: Are you out of your mind? Let’s endure… It turned out the issue wasn’t really about potatoes at all, but about certain minds, whose owners are now in prison.”

The President was assured that the potato harvest will be sufficient. What matters now is to ensure that storage facilities are properly prepared so that the crop can be preserved until spring. It’s also crucial to establish reliable partnerships with retail chains so that potatoes are delivered to stores on time, avoiding the supply issues seen earlier this year.

“We need to make sure that it's not the retailers who are managing us, but rather we are managing them,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized. “And make sure we have enough stabilization stocks in place so that we won't find ourselves running out later or facing any problems. The retail chains should be fully engaged.”

The President asked about the current availability of potatoes in stores and their price for consumers. He was informed that 95% of the demand is currently met with early-harvest potatoes, priced at an average of Br1.3 per kilogram. However, this price applies to early varieties and is expected to decrease later in the season.