The meeting of the President with the government and top management of the major plants was an opportunity to assess the state of affairs in the industrial sector. It provides more than a quarter of Belarus' GDP and gives jobs to thousands of our citizens. Stable operation of the plants means that the economy functions smoothly. The formula is simple: the better the companies work and the more they sell, the more money will go to the budget. And these are salaries, pensions and benefits. "There are no problems with financing social programs, but one cannot relax," the President noted.
2020 was truly a year of trials. There is a political, viral, economic and even informational pandemic around. The foreign telegram channels tried to shake up the labor collectives of the industrial sphere. But common sense of those who work in the real sector prevailed! The Belarusian industry is stable. Despite the pressure, none of the enterprises in the structure of the Ministry of Industry has violated its obligations under collective agreements.
Since Soviet times Belarus has had a reputation of a strong industrial site. Zhodino produces the most powerful mining dump trucks in the world, and every tenth tractor on the planet is Belarus. Every fifth ton of fertilizers is the salt of our land, and domestic dairy industry has conquered even China. Machine industry and chemical production, oil refining and food processing are well-developed in Belarus. We sure have something to be proud of!
We did not "squander" what we got from the big Soviet country and did not let what we got under the flywheel of total privatization. On the contrary, we have preserved and developed it. Even today the industrial sector makes more than a quarter of our GDP.
A. Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus: "Everyone understands perfectly well: The more efficient the work of industrial enterprises is, the more money will go to the budget. This means that the state will be able to finance social programs in higher amounts. Having analyzed the budget, we do not see any problems with financing the main social activities for this year, including the salary.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many markets have closed down and the full flow of capital and goods has almost stopped, especially for those positions that are produced in Belarus.
The good news of summer is that the recession has slowed down and the planet is coming back to life after COVID. And even in anticipation of a second possible coronavirus wave, fewer and fewer people want to pause production again. We did not close the enterprises and did not regret it, and as a result, all branches of our industry add to the growth rate. This is a positive signal.
Meanwhile the provocateurs and foreign telegrams channels have tried to swing thousands of labor collectives, where, as everywhere else, people of different views work side by side.
The collective common sense prevailed, because no one will pay for the downtime. But in big politics, there are forces that can't help destabilizing their neighbors.
"Grodno must go to Poland" - this is what Tomasz Sommer, editor-in-chief of a magazine, wrote on Twitter, when the Western elites got the feeling that Belarusian Maidan is possible. Well, isn't that interference in the affairs of Belarus?
President on currency market situation
And here's another round of attempts to ignite economic passions. The telegrammers, sitting in Poland, encourage Belarusians to take deposits from banks and buy currency expecting to set the fire of excitement and panic, to playing on people's nerves and fears. The authorities see it - and are ready to act proactively.
The President is ready to engage in dialogue with labor and student groups.
The main task of the authorities today is to ensure peace, law and order in the country. There is a demand for dialogue in society.
The new school year will start next week. The students are waiting in the university classrooms and schoolrooms. At all times young people and students were the most advanced and active part of society. Direct communication with them is the key to understanding between different generations.
Andrey Korol, Principal of the BSU:
"We held a meeting of the University Council two weeks ago to which student representatives were invited. Various critical points of view, wishes were heard. And the students who represent the actively politicized part of our community, admitted that there was no other option but to communicate, hear each other and find a solution. I am very optimistic about the speech made by the Head of State today and hope that it will be heard and properly understood by all representatives of our student community."
Present students are future specialists: engineers, economists, programmers, marketers and lawyers. Those who will come to work for industrial enterprises and no longer in theory, but in practice will feel what it means to compete in the world markets. And then they will already understand why the Minister of Industry is in an undisguised hurry to announce the contract with India for the supply of dump trucks.
The Minister spoke about the situation at industrial enterprises and exports.
Today the Belarusian industry is operating in a normal mode, all conveyors are loaded and orders are fulfilled on time. Volumes and exports are slowly growing. Gomselmash, after a series of difficulties, comes out with unique figures of sales inside the country and exports to Russia and Kazakhstan. MTZ will deliver a thousand tractors to Africa. The good news for BMZ is that the period of down prices seems to be behind us - the situation is improving, which means that the plant will work with greater return. Markets are waking up - it is important not to "miss" the export opportunities.
As for the Minsk Automobile Plant, which was visited by the President last week, a large contract for 200 buses to Kiev is underway, and the deliveries are scheduled for autumn. There are good sales figures for trucks on the African continent. The Minsk manufacturer also has plans to supply to Mongolia, Egypt and Vietnam. Stable operation of industry is the cornerstone of the country's economy.
Work of Belarusian industry and situation in labor collectives discussed at presidential meeting
27 августа 2020












