Meeting to discuss development of motorcycle and bicycle production in Belarus

It is necessary to determine the development prospects of Motovelo Plant, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the meeting to discuss the development of the motorcycle and bicycle production in Belarus on 16 February.

The President recalled that the production of motorcycles and bicycles was launched in Belarus in 1945 and survived the collapse of the Soviet Union. “Healthy lifestyles have been in big demand all over the world in recent years, and sports activities are more popular than ever. The best is yet to come. The global market of bicycles is increasingly vibrant, and in spite of the pandemic forecasts tell that it annually grows by 9%,” the head of state remarked.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, conditions for the development of this industry are very good. The production of such Belarusian bicycle brands as Minsk and Aist has been preserved in the country; the product range includes more than 100 bicycles and dozens of motorcycles. “But unfortunately, the financial and economic indicators could be much better. And the share of Belarusian bicycles on the domestic market has been decreasing every year. They account for about 20% of the market today,” the President said.

In his words, the export is small, it does not solve the problem of sales.

“It is not surprising if the key link of the production chain, which is a local design and engineering department, is lost. It doesn’t make much wits to organize the assembly of vehicles. But it’s almost a dead end. And an assembly facility will not help solve the problems of the enterprise. Especially financial and economic problems. And the problem of debts will not be solved. The mechanism which is now used by our enterprise is temporary. Long-term strategies will be futile in this case,” the head of state is convinced.

Aleksandr Lukashenko raised a number of urgent issues at the meeting. First of all, he asked about the development strategy of the enterprise. “The priorities of our economic policy were determined at the Belarusian People’s Congress. Therefore, if someone thinks that we will sell this enterprise to anybody, privatize it, close it or, roughly speaking, start producing only spoke while investors will relocate all production facilities to Italy, Russia or China, they are mistaken,” the Belarusian leader warned.

According to the head of state, when he speaks about MAZ, BelAZ, MTZ, Gomselmash and other enterprises, he means that these plants are the face of the Belarusian manufacturing industry, they are the brands of Belarus. “Motovelo Plant is on this list. Therefore, we cannot lose it,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.

The President also recalled the nationally-accepted decision to develop promising industries. “We have many good specialists who can make good bicycles. Let’s develop this industry,” he said.

“I want to see a comprehensive and well-developed business plan which takes the interests of consumers into account. There should be high-quality and competitive products. You will not sell bad products because the competition is very strong in the world. The proposal to build an enterprise in the center of Minsk using budget funds does not hold up to criticism. It is essential to prepare a clear, economically viable and efficient model for the development of production with a guaranteed payoff period of about 5 years. Having such a plan, we can consider and discuss financing,” the President said.

Secondly, he asked for information about the repayment of debts. The ideas to tear the enterprise apart and then hand over its pieces to banks (Belgazprombank, Alfa Bank, etc.) are anti-state, in my opinion. This is a way to destroy the enterprise,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Thirdly, the head of state wondered what will happen with the existing production premises.

“This is a desirable piece, a wonderful piece of land in the center of Minsk, and it is bigger than the enterprise needs. Therefore, the city administration and the government should think how to use this territory for the benefit of the state and people,” the President said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko warned against the proposals to build housing there. “Once again, at the Belarusian People’s Congress we agreed that we don’t need so much housing in Minsk. Otherwise, the whole country will move to Minsk. This issue was discussed many times,” he said.

“I am waiting for proposals. And I want well-considered proposals,” the head of state concluded.