Social guarantees and labor

  • "Everything depends on you. We work harder, we live better."

  • "You can’t spread dollars on bread."

    Meeting with senior officials of the Council of Ministers, 5 July 2022
  • "I won't say that everything is fine, that everything is good. But it is bearable. God willing, this is how it will continue to be. The main thing for us is not to turn the country upside down, not to destabilize it. With the stability in place, we will be able to build everything we need: polyclinics, hospitals, stadiums, and so on."

    Opening ceremony of city children's polyclinic No. 9 in Minsk, 3 June 2022
  • "We need all kinds of competencies. We do not have so many natural resources to live on: oil, gas, gold, metals, and so on. We buy them all. And we provide for ourselves thanks to people’s brains. Therefore, our brains are so to speak our main asset. Therefore, all professions are good. Yet, professions that give a boost to the nation’s development are important."

    Meeting with activists of Belarus’ pioneer organization on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the pioneer movement, 20 May 2022
  • "Today grain is practically new gold or oil. It might even become more expensive."

    Meeting to discuss spring field work, 22 March 2022
  • "Idleness is unacceptable. Don't you feel what kind of situation we are having now?! We want to be independent, but we are not willing to put an extra effort towards this independence. If we have chosen to be independent, we must work harder."

    Government meeting in Glubokoye to discuss the development of agricultural associations in Vitebsk Oblast, 18 March 2022
  • "In our country, the right to healthcare is unshakable. Every citizen of Belarus should have access to quality healthcare free of charge in state-run healthcare facilities."

    Meeting to discuss ways to improve the national healthcare system, 14 January 2021
  • "The goal of the government is to create conditions for those who cannot work and to help the weak. The rest is in the hands of people themselves."

    Address to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly, 8 May 2012
  • "Everything we do is ultimately aimed at raising the living standards of Belarusian citizens. This is not just rhetoric. Indeed, tractors, cars, spare parts, and so on are important. But if all this does not contribute to people’s prosperity, the government’s efforts will be to no avail."

    Address to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly, 14 April 2004
  • "Belarus has proven its ability to ensure stable development and national security even in the harshest external conditions. We have preserved the industrial capacity that was sold for a song in other countries and made a huge leap in the country’s social and economic development. This is not thanks to God’s blessing or raw materials export – the Belarusian people had to earn everything they had. This is the result of the collective effort and hard work."

    Address to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly, 21 April 2010
  • "Mutual help, kindness, and compassion have always been the traits of our people. Helping the sick and weak, protecting children, and caring for the elderly have always been respected as a godly case. We have taken these moral values as the basis for the Belarusian state – the state for people. We will do our best to preserve the human-centered approach."

    Election platform, 2015
  • "Despite all economic hardships, we would like to reiterate our unwavering commitment to paying  salaries, pensions, scholarships and allowances on time."

    Address to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly, 7 April 1999
  • "We are not rich, but we do not ask anyone for anything. We will earn our happiness ourselves. If we work harder, we will not need anyone to help us to succeed."

    Visit to the village of Bolbasovo, Orsha District, 4 November 2018
  • "We will feel absolutely secure about the future of our independent Belarus, only when every citizen asks what they have done for the country instead of what the country must do for them."

    Reception marking Independence Day, 1 July 2013
  • "The most important goal is to raise salaries significantly by means of increasing production and improving quality of goods. Salaries must not be paid for nothing. Only for work."

    Address to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly, 16 April 2003
  • "Everything is in place to start and grow businesses here. However, as the proverb goes, God gives food to birds, but does not throw it into a nest. Success comes to those who rely on their own efforts, who study hard, look for good jobs and then grow professionally in any place of our country."

    Address to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly, 19 April 2019
  • "First of all, we need to ensure that every large family has somewhere to live. A family needs their own house. If this house has a personal subsidiary plot, they will be able to make a living and bring up children well… A lot is being done to encourage people to have many kids and to make these kids healthy, strong, educated, and well-prepared for independent life. This policy yields positive results."

    State awards ceremony, 5 March 2012
  • "We all want to live well. It is a normal desire, a normal expectation that people have of the authorities. Moreover, we all want to live very well. But I emphasize again: everything depends on us. We work harder, we live better. A simple formula that nobody could have undone."

    Presidential inauguration ceremony, 6 November 2015
  • "Hard-working people should be protected. We should spare no money for such people. However, trade unions should not be afraid to make the jobless work. You act in the interests of the state. And in this challenging time for our country we should solve these problems together, without delegating them to others. We should just do it."

    8th Congress of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus, 28 February 2020