News & Events in Belarus

MINSK, 24 November (BelTA) – It is essential to improve the situation in machine-building, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said as he heard out a report on the strategy to develop the Belarusian machine-building industry on 24 November, BelTA has learned.

The head of state remarked that an instruction to develop Belarusian machine-building organizations was given at the session last summer. The government has been working on the machine-building development strategy for more than a year; there has been a long recession in this field.

“Leading organizations of the industry received sufficient state support. The state helped machine-building organizations refinance the loans, augment working assets, and thus create preconditions for efficient work. However, there has not been significant progress yet. Someone should be responsible for it,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

In 2014-2015, the enterprises’ output fell by 50%, the decrease in 2015 was 25%. Against the backdrop of the low base of the previous year, the industrial potential of the industry was replenished by only 3% in January-October 2016. “If we continue developing the manufacturing industry in the same mode and at the same pace, it will take decades to reach the level of 2013. Low progress is inadmissible. There should be serious improvement,” the President stressed. “I want to know if the government has any efficient measures for the upgrade of the industry. Do directors of enterprises have any solutions?”

Alexander Lukashenko noted that a big group of directors and specialists involved in the designing, manufacture, and sales of equipment and vehicle components as well as the representatives of organizations purchasing and using these products were invited for the meeting for a reason. “I would like the today’s session to be an honest, sincere, and comprehensive discussion of existing obstacles and possible solutions,” the Belarusian leader said.

The President demanded information about the development trends in the global machine-building industry. He wondered if these trends were taken into account in the preparation of the Belarusian strategy, if there are pending issues which must be solved to ensure the sustainable operation of the industry. “What is the government going to do to solve these problems in the near future? What financial resources will be used to achieve these tasks?” the head of state asked.

Alexander Lukashenko wanted to listen to the objective assessment of the managerial personnel who will be implementing the Belarusian machine-building development strategy. He also wondered if they are able to solve pending issues.