Meeting with Governor of Russia’s Krasnodar Territory Veniamin Kondratyev

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Governor of Russia’s Krasnodar Territory Veniamin Kondratyev in Minsk on 19 September.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said that the withdrawal of “old friends” from Russia and Belarus enabled the two countries to develop their industries using their own base. Fortunately, this base has been preserved.

“Today, Belarus is in demand as a high-tech country. I am saying this not because I consider my country the greatest one, but because we were a high-tech region in the Soviet times (this is how the national economy was built then). All raw materials moved to the West via us. We processed them and made competitive goods. Otherwise, the Soviet Union would not have been able to sell them outside the country. We have preserved this base,” the President emphasized.

The country has preserved its industrial giants, including thanks to the government’s well-considered policy: the authorities have introduced a ban on a sweeping sale of property, especially large enterprises. “As it was the case in the 1990s with private traders seen as general welfare. Private traders seek their own interests only. The state always bears huge responsibility. The state is responsible for the people living here,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

According to the head of state, the country does not prevent the private sector from developing, with these enterprises making a significant contribution to the national budget. “We have preserved the fundamental, key industries. We are now trying to build a network of small-sized enterprises that will work for the key enterprises,” the head of state added. “In mechanical engineering, small companies can produce nuts, bolts and parts and help huge companies make progress. Of course, we still have to do a lot in this area, but the main thing is that today’s level of Belarus’ demand in Russia has never been seen before.”

Belarus makes both large equipment and goods for the microelectronic industry. The country has preserved its machine tool and equipment manufacturing base. “Russians are ready to invest a lot of money in the sector, because it is hard to imagine development without these microchips. The country has tremendous technological capabilities. We have preserved our science, including fundamental science. Here, we have proceeded from our needs and export opportunities. We have built the same system in agriculture, industry and other areas,” the President said.

Belarus has recently launched the production of passenger cars. China has provided support here. Today the country is working to expand the localization scale, Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Belarus also pays close attention to the defense sector: the recent developments in the region and across the world are pushing for such steps. “Together with our elder brother [during recent negotiations of the Presidents of Belarus and Russia in Sochi] we agreed how we will act in Belarus. Certainly, we don’t want to reveal it in public. Our latest talks in your country were dedicated to defense and security,” the head of state said.

The President emphasized the importance of joint actions for the sake of reducing the possibility of growing challenges and threats: “Ukraine is only the beginning. We may see worse things if we don’t mobilize and don’t show to them that we can retaliate well. We and Russia are most of all concerned about Poland. And America stands behind Poland. They have decided to destroy everything in this area. First and foremost, the European Union. Poland is the key foothold. In 2020 they wanted to merge Belarus with Poland and make us a dividing line between Russia, the East, and the West. But they failed. This is why now we pay close attention to defense.”

Since the Soviet times Belarus has been working on electronic warfare and communication systems. The recent events have shown that this is one of the main parts of combat operations. The country is also engaged in rocket and missile engineering development. Initially, China was Belarus’ partner in this sector. Now Belarus is using Russian technologies.

“We are trying to develop in all the areas. But we are not a giant country and do not have giant resources to come to any country, including Africa, to give loans and develop technologies there. We, however, have technologies in all the areas, and we are in demand today, including in Africa,” the Belarusian leader stressed.

“The formula is simple and the reason is clear why we were persistently interested in your visit to Belarus. Kuban is the breadwinner, the advanced region of the Russian Federation in all respects,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

According to the President, Belarus is actively developing cooperation with various Russian regions. The head of state stressed that the main thing was to implement all the agreements which were many. “This is our principle: if we have agreed, we have to fulfill them. We have come to the understanding lately that we need to determine the key regions in Russia, from where we can work with neighboring regions and so on. We consider Kuban as a key region where we should secure a firm foothold,” the head of state said. “It is not just delivering equipment and selling it. We want to set up a certain hub with you. We are ready to develop several such large centers across Russia and produce equipment together with you, train your people if needed. We are ready for this.”

For example, St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast are such key regions for Belarus in the north of Russia. Cooperation with Africa is developing along the same lines. Here, Belarus considers Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea as hubs to work on the continent, the President cited a few examples.

“We are ready to develop cooperation with you on all fronts. You know it very well. This includes agriculture, machine building, and elevators. Our policy is not to rush into something great and new (because this means big investment and “catching up and overtaking” is not our principle at all), but to develop what we know how to do. We have tractor building industry. Why not develop it? Russia, for example, is huge and needs a lot. The same is true about harvesters, BelAZ trucks. We are trying to develop the areas where we have experience, competence and specialists. Therefore, if Kuban needs something, we will surely reach the relevant agreements and implement them,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The President added that Belarus could supply passenger vehicles fitted with various types of engines, but with one request only - they need to be serviced well and in a timely manner. If there is no such possibility locally, Belarus is ready to help in this regard, which means to send its specialists, to organize personnel training in the region.

“Otherwise, we will have it as in St. Petersburg,” the head of state said. “We have started to sort this issue out. I asked about the state of affairs in other regions of Russia We do not have our buses burning. Buses do not burn in other regions of Russia either. Why do they catch fire in St. Petersburg? Because some private company which has never dealt with buses took over their maintenance. You know what maintenance is: not only do you have to tighten the nut in time, but you have to inspect the bus before its operation every shift. They did not do it. As a result, there were leaks and so on. This caused smoke somewhere and immediately got into the media’s attention. If there are no specialists that can ensure reliable maintenance, we would rather do it ourselves and for less money. It is very good if you have specialists. If not, we can teach them.”

Belarusian builders are showing interest in cooperation with Krasnodar Territory. They can take part in the region's social construction projects.

“We will surely fulfill everything we agree on,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.