Business news

MINSK, 28 July (BelTA) – The Belarusian construction industry is able to increase exports, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the meeting to discuss the issues facing the national industry of building materials on 28 July, BelTA informs.

“Today’s most important task is to sell our goods at a good price and secure the return of currency proceeds to the country. A lot depend on it, including the ability of the upgraded companies to pay off their loans, the availability of resources for production development and wage increase,” the President said.

According to Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus has considerable raw resources to develop its building materials sector. In his words, domestic plants producing cement and glass plate have been upgraded for this purpose. The upgrade of large-panel house-building factories is nearly complete.

“This means we have created all the conditions to satisfy the domestic demand and build up the exports,” the President emphasized.

In his words, due to the growing competition and the contraction of foreign markets, the quality and competitive edge come to the fore.

"So far almost 80% of the country's building materials has been sold domestically. As I have been reported, the demand has been shrinking, the industry dynamics worsening, and the additional capacities used inefficiently," said the head of state.

Alexander Lukashenko stressed that a range of instructions has been given in due time to facilitate the development of the building materials industry. In that connection, he asked the government to report on the status of these instructions, on the things that prevent the successful operation of the industry and the measures taken to promote the financial recuperation of enterprises. He also inquired whether the government is planning any additional measures.

"We need to determine what needs to be done first thing to help the industry. We also should develop the systematic approaches to address the challenges," the President said.

He asked the government officials to remember that the matter is about the core organizations with many employees. "The well-being of more than 50,000 workers and their families directly depends on the stable operation of these enterprises,” the President noted.