Business news

MINSK, 17 November (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia have so far failed to provide equal conditions for economic entities, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the press conference for the Russian regional mass media on 17 November.

To cite an example, Alexander Lukashenko compared the production costs at the Belarusian automobile engineering company MAZ and Russia’s KamAZ. He pointed out that KamAZ pays $65 per one cubic meter of natural gas, while the price for MAZ is $278. The price of electric power is 2.8 cents and 12 cents respectively. “How can we compete when the economic entities have been operating in unequal conditions? The difference is enormous. To compete on your market, on our common market, we have to cut down on all our expenditures, including wages. Because of that, the taxes are lower, the military whose work is to protect our common space are paid less, and so on,” Alexander Lukashenko noted.

“We have declared our intention to ensure equal conditions, and this goal has not been achieved yet. We explain to the people that we simply cannot raise wages even with this strict saving mode,” the head of state said.