Belarus President makes new appointments

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko has appointed Vladimir Pertsov Information Minister of Belarus. Former minister Igor Lutsky was appointed Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration.

“An information war is underway. It is not a confrontation anymore (I wish it were at least a confrontation). I am afraid it is going to get worse in terms of this information confrontation,” the head of state stressed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said that people are carefully selected for positions where it is necessary to deal with the relevant challenges: “We select such specialists very carefully. It is probably one out of thousands.”

Characterizing Vladimir Pertsov, who was appointed Information Minister, the President said that he watched him personally and knew him very well. “We considered you for various positions. I was just afraid of losing you in this bureaucratic infinity. It would be a great pity for me if we lost a very good journalist, political scientist and politician. I am telling you this frankly,” the head of state said.

As for the ministerial post, the President believes that “it is a little bit away from this boiling cauldron”. Moreover, there is a good practical component there - subordinate business entities. “In general, you are a young man. You have everything in front of you. I really want you to succeed in this position as a member of the government,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Speaking about the appointment of Igor Lutsky to the post of deputy head of the President administration, the head of state said that it was not easy to find a person who would “organize this process”. “You are a reliable, ideologically stable and steady person. Here I have no doubts. As an organizer, you have dealt with such issues before [the issues supervised at the new post, including ideology and mass media, as Igor Lutsky has a great experience working in the Information Ministry and holding other responsible positions in the media]. You are a well-established official, while Vladimir Borisovich [Pertsov] will have to readjust somehow,” the President said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that everyone in their positions would have to organize the corresponding process, working in collaboration: “You [Igor Lutsky], as a person who has worked in the Information Ministry, can give a lot of advice. You maybe even get involved in some matters to help. Vladimir Borisovich [Pertsov], as one of the leading political scientists, journalists and politicians, can be a shoulder to lean on at any time in this organizational structure that the two of you will have to build together.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko also appointed new aides to the Belarusian President – inspectors for Minsk Oblast and Gomel Oblast. Nikolai Rogashchuk took the vacant position of the aide to the Belarusian President – inspector for Gomel Oblast. Since June 2018, he served as the Minsk Oblast Deputy Governor. Aleksandr Butarev, the current chairman of the Gorki District Executive Committee, was promoted to the vacant position of the aide to the Belarusian President – inspector for Minsk Oblast.

“These jobs are challenging, even for such experienced officials as you,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed. “The situation is difficult because some people are increasingly trying to create economic problems for Belarus. Your main tasks will be, of course, personnel issues (who to support, who to promote, who to demote) and economic affairs. In the Soviet times, people said that if the economy is fine, people will work well. If the economy is failing, hard work will bear no fruit,” the President noted.

The two newly appointed aides to the President have considerable experience of work in the regions and are well informed about the problems of both urban and rural residents, the head of state noted. Now they will represent the President, which is a great responsibility. “These are our agents in the regions. You should be objective, without trying to please anybody for the sake of good relations. You can do it when you work towards the results. If the results – primarily, economic – are good, then you should team up with certain people and select personnel appropriately,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.

Andrei Kuntsevich was appointed First Deputy Information Minister. Before this appointment, he served as Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration.

Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Igor Brylo was promoted to First Deputy Minister.

Aleksei Bogdanov, Head of the Central Office for Foreign Economic Activities of the Agriculture and Food Ministry, also got a promotion. He will take the post of Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister.

The candidacy of Aleksei Guida, First Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of Human Resources Policy of the Belarus President Administration, was approved for the position of the head of this directorate.

The head of state also gave the go ahead for the appointment of Chief of the Main Financial Department of the Gomel Oblast Executive Committee Marina Kostyuchenko, and First Secretary of the Gomel regional branch of the BRSM Youth Union Veronika Gudkova as members of the Gomel Oblast Executive Committee.