Aleksandr Lukashenko awards Roman Kogodovsky and doctors who saved him

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko presented state awards to school student Roman Kogodovsky and the healthcare workers who saved him. The award ceremony took place in the Palace of Independence on 2 November.

The participants in the ceremony were invited to a tour of the Palace of Independence. Roman was accompanied by his mother who had spent more than 100 days in the hospital taking care of him.

“Well, Roman, you are already standing upright. I welcome you. Well done! Look, now everything depends on you. Thank you, you have done a great job,” the Belarusian leader said addressing the attendees after they studied the interior design of the Palace of Independence.

Aleksandr Lukashenko presented state awards to the attendees. “I will use this opportunity to accomplish my mission. Roman, you are our hero! Listen, this order [the Order for Personal Gallantry] is very rarely given to adults. Only a few such orders have ever been awarded and they were received by really strong men. You are our strongest hero! Therefore, I will give you this order. When you grow up, you will understand what kind of order it is,” the head of state said presenting the award.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also spoke highly of the doctors, all the healthcare professionals who treated Roman. The healthcare minister followed the progress in the treatment and updated the head of state about it almost every day. “This person [Dmitry Pinevich] - the minister - he was on this journey with you and the doctors. He provided regular updates, in the morning and in the evening, how the treatment proceeded. As far as I understand, he also visited you even when you did not see or hear anything at all. Your mother knows it,” the head of state said.

“These people did everything to save you, they accomplished a feat. And you know, we will be proud of you and them. Because when the situation was critical, the minister called both the West and the East for consultations. When they realized how bad your condition was, they refused to help. And then I told him: if our doctors can do something, they should do it. And they also accomplished a feat. Therefore, we also reward them for their great skill. You have done a great job. Now we can surely tell any doctors in the world that we can do everything. Thank you again,” the head of state said.

Earlier the head of state signed a decree to award the Order for Personal Gallantry to Roman Kogodovsky.

State awards and letters of commendation were also presented to workers of Minsk Emergency Hospital who treated the boy from wounds he sustained when rescuing his little brother from the burning house.

Burn surgeon (chief) of the Pediatric Burn Department Igor Zelenko and intensivist of the Intensive Care Department Marina Markevich were awarded the Medal for Labor Merits for many years of fruitful work, exceptional professionalism, services to medicine.

Intensivist (chief) of the Intensive Care Department Larisa Zolotukhina and operating room nurse of the Surgery Department Valentina Kazarezova received commendation letters for many years of fruitful work, exemplary performance of duties, and services to medicine.

Dean of the Surgery Faculty of the Belarusian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, chief non-staff burn surgeon of the Healthcare Ministry Aleksei Chasnoit was awarded the Medal of Francysk Skaryna.

After the award ceremony Aleksandr Lukashenko gave Roman Kogodovsky a tour of his office.

First of all, the head of state invited the boy to sit in his office chair. "Take a seat, please. Imagine that you are in control of the process. Here you have the whole country on this console. You can reach anyone... You are from Minsk Oblast, right? You can press here to reach the Minsk Oblast governor, invite him over here, if necessary,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “Do not be shy, you are the President! This is not only the office. Here I receive government officials including your minister [Healthcare Minister Dmitry Pinevich who oversaw the boy’s treatment progress]. But he doesn’t like to come here because he needs to report on how the system functions. Therefore, government officials do not really like to come here, but I invite them sometimes.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko also told the boy about the photographs on his desk: “This is my youngest son, Kolya. You probably heard about him. He did not sit in this chair, even when he was little, even younger than you. You are the first. Indeed, Roman is the first to sit in the President's chair. "

"If you ever want to come to visit me and talk to some government official, I will gladly meet with you," the head of state added.

While talking to the boy, Aleksandr Lukashenko vividly showed how much information the President has to process every day by demonstrating a thick folder of various documents to the boy: “Look here. I have to memorize all of it by heart this week. Look: we are going to have an event on Thursday to talk about the Constitution. Then we are going to have online negotiations with Putin on television. I have to learn the materials by heart as well. Then I will go to Mogilev Oblast together with the minister to open a new hospital. I have to learn everything by heart, too. Within only three days.”

“Keep in mind that if you decide to be President, you have to read a lot,” the Belarusian leader said.

The President walked Roman to a big globe. “There is nothing unnecessary here in the office. When I need to fly somewhere, I look at how to get from Minsk, for example to China, Beijing. I look at the route. I sometimes need this globe even though I know the geography very well,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko continued his tour: “Here is a TV set. Sometimes, when my press secretary brings me some information on a flash drive, I watch it here. But I rarely turn it on.”

The President also showed the boy the area in his office where he hosts distinguished foreign guests.

“I make new appointments here. Dmitry Pinevich was not always a minister. He once came here, and we had a conversation: ‘Can you do the job?’ – ‘Yes, I can’, ‘Can you perform these functions?’ – ‘Yes, I can’. He was appointed minister then. That is the kind of work I do here,” the President went on to tell the boy about his work.

He also spoke about two important things kept in the office. One of them is a Slutsk belt made according to the ancient technology using gold threads. “Here it is, more than two meters long. Rich people wore it before,” he told Roman.

The first copy of the Constitution of Belarus written in two state languages is also kept in the office. “Very soon there is going to be a referendum. People want to change the Constitution. I agree with them. If people vote for a new Constitution, there will be a new one here,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.

He gave Roman a computer as the boy likes playing computer games. “Well done, Roma. Keep it up! Read a lot. If you read a lot, you learn more. Do not spend too much time on the computer I gave you. A couple of hours a day, not more,” the President told the boy.