Events

“It is up to you to decide how you will protect Belarusian manufacturers. But starting from tomorrow the Trade Ministry, governors, the Minsk mayor and the Chairman of the State Customs Committee have to take the most decisive measures to protect local manufacturers of goods in all areas, from trade to the customs border. You have to think how you will protect manufacturers. You cannot make excuses that we have obligations in the Customs Union and the Eurasian Union. We must protect Belarusian manufacturers,” the President stressed.

“You allowed the situation when Belarusian-made products cannot compete with imported ones on the domestic market. We stopped to sell TV sets, refrigerators. What can we demand of the director of this enterprises? Probably, it is time to replace him if there is such a situation at the enterprise. But he will wonder why we failed to protect the domestic market,” the head of state remarked.

“You are trying to adjust to the external situation, to the common market with Russia, Ukraine,” the President said and added that Russia protects the interests of its manufacturers if necessary.

“Just think about their attitude to BelGee. They once said that we cannot produce Chinese cars because they will be sold on the Russian market. But it does not contradict our agreements in the Customs Union and the Eurasian Union. What do we have now? The Russians have established similar enterprises, they open Chinese facilities without consulting with Belarus and Kazakhstan,” Alexander Lukashenko noted.

“Why did not we devise a mechanism for the protection of our companies? Why do we neglect our market? We branch out into the UAE, Mongolia, Myanmar, Vietnam, but forget about the domestic market! These are the questions for the government to answer,” the President added.

Speaking about investment projects, Alexander Lukashenko stressed that they should engage only those Belarusian companies which can offer products to investors.

“We cannot put it off till the day after tomorrow. Work out the legal framework if needed, if not – make decisions in the government,” the head of state said.

“We can produce necessary machines in Belarus,” the President emphasized.

As an example Alexander Lukashenko mentioned the construction of the nuclear power plant which makes an ample use of Belarusian materials. “The investments make up $10 billion. This is the money which was provided by Russia and it should be injected in our economy, We must use local metal, sad, gravel, scree and other materials. We must also urge our companies to produce equipment, parts and components for the nuclear power plant,” the head of state stressed.