Events

20 Nov 2025

Lukashenko demands local officials fulfill basic requirement

MINSK, 20 November (BelTA) - While approving the appointment of new district executive committee chairpersons, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko gave them a number of instructions and assignments, demanding from them the fulfillment of a basic rule and requirement, BelTA has learned.

“Most importantly, I want to say this so you get what we talked about in Vitebsk [the 24 October meeting on measures to ensure the sustainable development of Vitebsk Oblast and the situation with cattle mortality]. Whoever does not get it, will not have a job. This is the basic thing we discussed there. I’m not asking you how to fulfill this basic rule and requirement at this stage,” the head of state said.

“I’ve said it many, many times: cattle mortality and milking cows like goats is utterly unacceptable. What kind of cow is it that gives one or two liters of milk? Who needs such cows and how did we ever come to this? So, my advice to you: day and night, until you shake up your teams in the districts, you must be out at the enterprises, the farms, the dairy complexes, other complexes if you have them, and the industrial plants. The strategy has been defined. We need to restore what was there, starting with the district centers,” the Belarusian leader said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that while the agricultural sector has more or less learned to function effectively during the sowing and harvesting seasons, the livestock sector is sometimes neglected. However, the president emphasized, the completion of the field harvest is not a time for rest, as crop farming is fundamentally oriented towards supporting livestock farming. A great number of problems related to animal husbandry still need to be solved in this area.

“Begin working purposefully on herd reproduction. You must not have cows that yield only one or two liters of milk. It’s a disgrace. Every farm needs to have a proper core breeding stock. You know this better than I do. From this core, we must get the best calves, heifers, and cows that will yield at least 15-20 liters,” the head of state stressed.

Another task for the local authorities is to restore the effective operation of district-level organizations, such as construction Mobile Mechanical Division, Selkhoztekhnika, and others. These organizations are extremely important both for equipment maintenance and for personnel training.

Aleksandr Lukashenko cited the requests to create mechanized unites as an example. “Where will you, the district executive committee chairpersons, station such a unit if you get one? Will it be parked in the committee's garages or lots, and will you and your staff maintain it? No. For this, you need to use the agricultural machinery services,” he remarked. “And teach people. In Soviet times, winter was always a time for learning. Teach your machine operators how to work the equipment. This applies to every aspect of it. And you know where we learned. At the Selkhoztekhnika.”

The president stated that by the coming spring, a model of what this organization should look like will be presented to all districts.

“We have plenty of places where we need to train agronomists, engineers, veterinarians, and so on. Just don’t make one mistake. Don’t drag in teachers from agricultural or other universities. Bring in practitioners! No teachers - they are out of touch with real life and production. For theoretical knowledge, you have the Academy of Sciences and specialized institutes at your disposal, use them. Over the winter, train your specialists and managers. Go over things with them an extra time. It won’t hurt. You must teach people, you must organize them, you must manage and take responsibility for it. I’m asking you to do this,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that districts no longer have thirty-plus heads of agricultural enterprises as they did in previous years. The farms have been consolidated, and now a district executive committee chairperson only has to work with a maximum of 8-9 managers. “Gather them and come to an agreement with them. Agree on how you will work. We need results. The times are such that without results, you get nowhere. No results, no job. No philosophy will work here. No talk or reasoning. Only results. For everyone. And for you, in the first place. Your entire work is in the result. If there is a result, there is a point,” the president emphasized.

He promised that “appalling materials” - facts uncovered in the worst-performing farms - would soon be distributed for review: “You will see conversations, negotiations, and everything else, filled with swearing, drinking, expired medicine, and animal deaths.”

“Prepare this material with [Chairman of the State Control Committee Vasily] Gerasimov, so we can send this petition. So they can’t say I’m criticizing them for no reason. Like one governor who complained: ‘It’s nothing but pressure, over and over!’ So, draw conclusions from the conversation in Vitebsk Oblast,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.