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Lukashenko: Orsha shows example for reviving mid-sized cities

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MINSK, 19 December (BelTA) - Orsha has shown how the development of other cities in Belarus with populations of 80,000 or more will take place, Belarusian President and Chairman of the VII Belarusian People’s Congress Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the second session of the congress on 19 December, BelTA has learned.

The head of state noted that when Orsha was chosen as a model to show how such towns should be put in order and developed (there are 11 mid-sized cities with populations of 80,000 and more in Belarus), his decision was criticized. “Many criticized me for Orsha. I explained why I chose Orsha. Not because it is my homeland or because I lived there for some time… No. I knew Orsha well. Just as I did in agriculture,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

He recalled a similar situation when modernization in agriculture began with one of the struggling farms well known to the president from his previous work. “Because I knew every patch of land there, and no one could mislead me. And we started from there. Everything now being done to restore agriculture (the contruction of dairy complexes and so on) began from there, where I knew everything,” he explained.

“If you are a leader and want to achieve something, you must delve deeper into processes so that you understand what is really happening there,” he added.

Regarding Baranovichi and other mid-sized cities, the president stressed: “At that time I said directly: we will put Orsha in order (it has about 100,000 residents) and then follow the same path with these mid-sized cities with 80,000 people and more. We’ve put Orsha in order. I won’t say it works perfectly today, but what we invested there is yielding results across the board.”

“Orsha, in my view, is demonstrating more or less good results. We showed the way we will bring these cities in order. We will not deviate from this,” the head of state remarked.

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