News & Events in Belarus

Lukashenko’s antiwar speech in Dubai, marathon, care for people, Year of Quality in President’s Week

The work schedule of the Belarus president is always full of events. Aleksandr Lukashenko holds conferences and working meetings on the most topical matters concerning the country’s development, regularly visits the regions, goes on foreign trips and welcomes foreign guests, talks to reporters, signs decrees and laws. And even if there are no public events, it does not mean that the head of state does not work. It must be said that even when he relaxes, for instance, by playing ice hockey or chopping firewood, Aleksandr Lukashenko happens to find the time to give yet another instruction. All the decisions must be prompted by life, he likes to say.

The President’s Week project is intended for those, who want to keep up with the head of state, be up-to-date on the latest statements and decisions of the Belarusian leader.

What key topics were discussed as Aleksandr Lukashenko met with top officials of the government and the Belarus President Administration before his foreign trip? Why was the head of state concerned about the choice of products retailers offer to Belarusians in the countryside?

What is the state of affairs in Belarusian-Venezuelan relations? Will it be possible to restore the previous level of cooperation? What did Venezuela Vice President Ricardo Menendez agree on in Minsk?

Highlights of the president’s participation in a world climate change summit in Dubai. Why was he against scaring up funds for the green agenda? How can billions and trillions of U.S. dollars be saved? All of that and more than that in the new episode of BelTA’s special project President’s Week.

TWO SECTIONS. What did Aleksandr Lukashenko discuss with the government before his foreign trip?

On Monday, 27 November Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko convened a government conference in the Palace of Independence. Two large sections of matters were up for discussion. The prime minister, the head of the presidential administration, deputy prime ministers, and the minister of foreign affairs were invited to attend the meeting.

The first section focused on the international agenda, in particular, forthcoming meetings and negotiations.

The second section focused on domestic affairs, primarily on the operation of the economy.

Visits and international meetings

“The topic of our today’s conversation is international meetings and talks. Primarily my visits. You know that the year was tense, especially the summer and autumn period. We had to postpone a number of visits to a later period. Sincerely speaking, to winter. Therefore, there is certain overcrowding,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned the development of cooperation with countries of the African continent, including Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe. “We have agreed to visit certain countries,” he said.

The head of state mentioned a world climate summit in the UAE, for which he left two days after the conference. Forthcoming meetings with foreign leaders on the sidelines of the forum were mentioned, including meetings with presidents of individual African countries.

The president emphasized: “All of you should understand that this is a faraway arc of our cooperation, but that does not mean that those are distant countries for us.” “With some of them we have good relations, including trade and economic ones. First of all, with Zimbabwe. And through Zimbabwe with other neighboring states,” the head of state explained. In his words, Mozambique shows interest in cooperation. “During talks with the president of Zimbabwe [Emmerson Mnangagwa] we agreed that we need to involve Mozambique. They made strong requests. They are interested in our repeating Zimbabwe’s experience in Mozambique. I mean food products, baby food, and healthcare. They want us to help, share the technologies in the sectors where we have certain competences,” the president said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also mentioned cooperation with Equatorial Guinea. Preparations for a visit of the Belarusian head of state to Equatorial Guinea had already been reported. “They are waiting for us. We have done a lot of work on cooperation with this country in terms of working out a concrete plan, a roadmap. What is the state of affairs now?” the Belarusian leader wondered.

Cooperation with Equatorial Guinea also means prospects of interaction with its neighboring states. “As the president asked me, we could provide some support and assistance to the neighboring states, primarily with technologies,” the Belarusian head of state noted.

“Since I am going to have a dialogue with these heads of state in the Emirates, naturally we will also discuss all the matters related to the United Arab Emirates,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The president asked to report on the trade and economic cooperation with China: “It is a very important country for us. Naturally, there are a lot of issues that the government should have dealt with, if I can put it that way, in relations with the People’s Republic of China. What were the plans? What have been done and what haven’t?”

It was revealed at the end of the week that the president will be in the People’s Republic of China on a working visit on 3-4 December. Aleksandr Lukashenko is expected to meet with China President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Trade, economic, investment, and international cooperation matters are on the agenda. The itinerary also includes a number of social and humanitarian events.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also remarked that Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko was expected to have meetings in Asia. “This is why I would like to hear about progress in main avenues of our cooperation with Türkiye. How is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working here? As far as I know, Türkiye is ready for negotiations, including for your visit, Roman Aleksandrovich [Golovchenko], to Türkiye. My visit is also being prepared. But before I go there, it would be great to have some preparations made in advance,” the president said.

Product choice in retail outlets in Belarusian countryside

Participants of the conference proceeded to discuss domestic matters. The head of state urged the government to pay close attention to providing people in small communities with the necessary choice of food, including in view of the forthcoming New Year and Christmas celebrations. “I would like to warn the government that there will be no leniency in ensuring a normal situation ahead of the New Year and Christmas holidays. Our people should have no problems with food,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “Listen, we do not lack anything. We have enough of everything. Our management skills are the only problem. Especially in small towns, agrotowns, and villages. These are our people. They are not rich people. They must be provided with everything. Holidays should be not only for bosses, residents of Minsk and big cities. Everyone should feel the festive mood.”

The head of state explained that he had been recently getting the relevant complaints from people. “I understand that there are all sorts of circumstances. But a lot of people are complaining about the provision of basic necessities. I say again that I take into account that people may not like something or are in a bad mood and then they complain to the president via the Internet. But there is no smoke without fire,” the Belarusian leader noted.

This is why Aleksandr Lukashenko warned participants of the meeting, and first of all Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Zayats, who is responsible for the agro-industrial complex where corrupt practices in dairy business had recently been unveiled: “You should not focus only on all sorts of violations like the recent corruption case in the dairy industry. You also need to take care of our farmers. You are in charge of not only [the Belarusian National Union of Consumer Societies] Belkoopsoyuz, but also of agriculture in general. They are also within your competence.”

QUALITY EVERYWHERE. What will happen next year?

Aleksandr Lukashenko has signed presidential decree No.375 “On declaring 2024 the Year of Quality” this week.

This decision aims to further improve the quality of life of the Belarusian people, ensure the competitiveness of the national economy on the world stage, encourage proactive behavior, cultivate responsibility in citizens for results of their work and a sense of involvement in the future of the country.

Within the framework of the Year of Quality emphasis will be placed on increasing the competitiveness of Belarus through a careful and thoughtful attitude to resources, high-tech and energy-intensive projects, and the priority focus on qualitative indicators over quantitative ones. Efforts will be focused on ensuring quality indicators by encouraging proactive behavior, introducing rationalization ideas, strengthening social optimism in society, and the desire to build the common good. Priority attention will be given to the formation of personal responsibility among citizens for achieving a high quality of life (a sufficient level of income, timely medical examination, healthy nutrition, good education, cultural leisure).

The president suggested declaring next year the Year of Quality during his working trip to Mogilev Oblast in September. The repair of roads was discussed among other things when the head of state was in the agrotown of Vishov, Belynichi District. Housing and Utilities Minister Gennady Trubilo told the president that the tasks related to road repairs are being overfulfilled.

“It’s good that you are overfulfilling, but keep in mind that you will be responsible for the quality. You can’t botch it because it will be costly. That is not our way. Therefore, quantity is a good thing, but quality should be above everything. We need to declare next year the Year of Quality. Everything is fine: output is good and the demand for Belarus’ products is colossal (we are struggling to meet the demand in Russia). Yet, we still have problems with quality. Therefore, quality is of paramount importance,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.

Aleksandr Lukashenko expanded on the matter when he visited the industrial group Kristall where one of the employees suggested instituting a unified state quality mark in Belarus. The head of state approved of the idea.

“We will declare next year the Year of Quality. I have already spoken about this. We produce a lot. We make high-quality products. But we should take the quality to a new level in order to be competitive. Because we have an open economy. We need to improve the quality further in order to stay competitive,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. The head of state suggested taking the Soviet quality mark, which design he likes, as the basis for the modern Belarusian quality mark. He gave the relevant instructions to the government.

OLD FRIENDS. How does Belarus and Venezuela intend to restore cooperation dynamics?

On 28 November Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Venezuela’s Vice President – Minister of Planning Ricardo Menendez in the Palace of Independence.

“I am pleased to meet with you. We have known each other for a long time, and you know Belarus well,” the Belarusian leader said at the beginning of the meeting. “We started from scratch during the life of our mutual friend Hugo Chavez. We have done a lot, but our relations had a certain pause through no fault of our own, I mean no fault of Belarus and Venezuela. These relations continued but they were not so intensive.”

The head of state noted that, fortunately, the cooperation avenues that had been defined earlier had not been lost and now it is necessary to give a new impetus to them. The president suggested revising all joint projects by eliminating everything irrelevant and adding new avenues and spheres of cooperation if necessary, and thus updating the roadmap the countries had defined earlier.

“The world has undergone significant changes over the years. One of the main and very vivid events was your fight for sovereignty and Independence. You did a great job, you defended the country. The current generation of Venezuelans will always be thankful because you’ve protected the country. You stood against everyone and prevailed,” he said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that Venezuela and the current generation of Venezuelan politicians command the greatest respect across the world, including in Belarus, for the courage and steadfastness in defending sovereignty and independence.

In turn, Ricardo Menendez thanked Aleksandr Lukashenko for the opportunity to meet and conveyed warm greetings and words of admiration for the Belarusian people from Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro. “We love and admire Belarus very much. In his time, Hugo Chavez taught us to love and admire Belarus and its people. It is not only about the historical heroic past of your country, but also about your vision of the future,” the vice president said. “As President Maduro noted, both Belarus and Venezuela are the architects of a new world. They promote a policy of peace where there is no place for sanctions or aggression.”

Ricardo Menendez also conveyed Nicolas Maduro’s proposal to organize a meeting with the Belarusian head of state to discuss the current agenda and prospects for further cooperation.

After the meeting the Venezuelan vice president told reporters that the main goal is to restore dynamics, overcome hindrances that exist on this road: “Certain accomplishments have already been secured. We are now talking about advancing our relations to new heights. After we got stronger in the fight against sanctions, we have to move forward through joint efforts and plan a new stage of our joint activities for the next ten years.”

According to Ricardo Menendez, the sides are now focused on matters of mutual interest: “First of all, we are talking about rebooting the joint ventures for making tractors and automobiles. There is interest in cooperation in petrochemical industry. The matter of establishing logistic ties is very important. We are now working on all of it.”

It is a common fact that a Belarusian-Venezuelan joint venture has been set up in Venezuela’s territory to make up to 10,000 tractors and up to 5,000 trucks per annum. By the way, it is the largest enterprise in this region. “We are talking not only about the production of these vehicles but also about selling them domestically and in neighboring countries,” Ricardo Menendez noted.

In Minsk Ricardo Menendez took part in a session of the Belarus-Venezuela trade and economic cooperation commission.

LAWMAKING PLAN. What legal novelties should Belarusians expect?

The president signed decree No.380 to approve the plan for preparing draft legislation in 2024. The plan was put together after reviewing proposals submitted by government agencies and other organizations. The real need of the society to address the relevant relations and the order of priority of their regulation by law were taken into account as the draft regulatory acts were selected. Close attention was paid to observing the principles of a systematic approach, an integrated approach, and the stability of legal regulation.

The plan provides for preparing 23 draft laws, including five bills that make up the budget package, and 5 new drafts (the Healthcare Code, the laws on consumer loans (microloans), on accreditation in the national accreditation system, on independent evaluation and certification of qualifications, and on realtor work).

As many as 13 draft regulatory acts will be prepared to bring the existing laws into compliance with the legislation, international commitments of the Republic of Belarus, and to perfect provisions of laws taking into account the law application practice.

The plan also provides for working out two decrees of the Belarus president. One stipulates how financing under assignment of a monetary claim can be organized (factoring) and the other is designed to improve presidential decree No.9 of 10 January 2005 on approving the regulation on gambling business operations.

Apart from that, the plan provides for finishing the work on the Ecological Code concept, which began in accordance with the lawmaking plan for the year 2023.

DIGITAL LIFE. What innovations does the presidential decree on digital development stipulate?

Aleksandr Lukashenko also signed presidential decree No.381 “On digital development”. The document is aimed at implementing and financing steps and events, pilot projects in the area of digital development.

Creation and usage of digital platforms will be the main approach to digitizing the country till 2030. The decree stipulates priority spheres for introducing these platforms and how digital projects will be financed in manufacturing sector, education, healthcare, transport, communications, civil engineering, agriculture, trade, state statistics, ecology, housing and utilities, state administration, and social and labor sphere.

An overwhelming majority of the most popular administrative procedures is supposed to be converted to the digital form by 2030.

A new tool for regional digitization has been introduced: scaling up results of pilot projects at the expense of local innovative funds.

It is stipulated that industries and regions will be digitized on the basis of digital development indicators, which will be published publicly in the information system Showcase of Digital Projects. The system will also offer information about ongoing pilot projects in the sphere of digital development.

The decree provides for a list of industry-specific and regional “digitization offices”.

COMMON HOME. Where does Aleksandr Lukashenko intend to find trillions of dollars to save the planet?

On 1 December Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko took part in the 28th conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai (aka the world climate summit). Large delegations from over 150 countries came to participate in the summit. About 90 country leaders took part in the plenary session on the first day of the summit.

In Dubai’s Expo City the Belarusian head of state was welcomed by UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

On the sidelines of the summit Aleksandr Lukashenko had a number of meetings with his counterparts from various regions of the world, including with leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Serbia, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Togo, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Botswana. The Belarusian head of state also negotiated with the presidents of Zimbabwe, Kenya, and the Comoros on the sidelines of the forum.

Aleksandr Lukashenko made a speech to present Belarus’ approaches and proposals on tackling global climate and ecological security matters. It seems that during his speech the head of state deviated from his notes and added some sharp words to his presentation. As a result the audience applauded words of the Belarusian leader.

Highlights of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s speech

At the very beginning of his speech the president stressed that the future of the common home – planet Earth – is at stake: “We have and will have no other home.”

Speaking about climate change and gloomy predictions made by scientists, Aleksandr Lukashenko drew attention to actions of those, who provoke and start wars in various parts of the planet. And wars are the main source of dirt on the continent. “It is attempts to remove the countries, which stand in the way of dominating the entire world and destruction by sucking the land dry. And sometimes everything gets done allegedly for the sake of sustainable development (there is such a UN program),” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.

In turn, under the Paris Agreement Belarus fully honors its commitments and even exceeds them but in response it gets only new economic sanctions, international trade barriers, and restrictions on access to technologies. And Belarus is not the only one in this situation.

“It is time to admit that green agenda is meaningless amid confrontation. It demands respect for the sovereignty of countries and unconditional fairness,” the Belarusian leader stressed. “It is inadmissible to pressure political opponents with sanctions while simultaneously demanding that they implement solutions that are costly for the national economies.”

The key thing Aleksandr Lukashenko urged listeners to do is to stop expressing “concern” and to start acting for the sake of preserving life on Earth. “It is possible that we have once again gathered here and will once again express our concern, unfortunately. Everyone will forget it in a week. We have no moral right to live only for our own selves,” he said.

Speaking about funding needed to tackle climate agenda problems, the president suggested saving money on military conflicts. “All the speakers, particularly those, who spoke here first, expressed concern about sources of funding. Come on! Even reporters, who are here, can tell you where you can find money,” he noted.

Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, the slaughter in the Middle East cost billions and trillions of U.S. dollars and countless human lives. “Trillions upon trillions of U.S. dollars. So let’s spend them on cleaning the planet. Then we would not have to scare up funds for it. We have gathered here in order to once again express concern. Those, who spoke here first, those, who ‘care for the grandchildren’, are waging these wars. And wars greatly pollute the planet. Let’s stop it. This is why the most important thing is for us to learn how to speak less and do more,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The head of state also referred to statements previously made during the summit: 80% of pollution on the planet comes from 20 leading countries. “Mister chairman, instead of concern let’s use the declaration to write down our demand for them to at least halve their atmospheric emissions. We will not do it. Why have we gathered then? This is money, readily available money. $10 trillion that we can spend on cleaning our planet by stopping wars. And let’s act. If we don’t start acting, nature will force us to live according to its own laws,” the Belarusian leader concluded.

Details of negotiations on the sidelines of the summit

It has already been noted that during the summit the Belarusian leader had a series of international contacts with colleagues representing various countries and continents. But multiple meetings dedicated to cooperation with African countries are worth mentioning.

In particular, Aleksandr Lukashenko met with President of the Union of the Comoros, Chairperson of the African Union Azali Assoumani. The sides discussed the establishment of Belarus’ interaction with the African continent and promising avenues of cooperation. An agreement was reached on promoting Belarus’ interaction with the African Union.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “You know that we are extremely interested in cooperation with the African Union. I’ve sent you the relevant letter.” The president remarked that Belarus has been cooperating with countries of North Africa for a long time, for instance, with Egypt. Relations with southern countries are developing. “We would be very glad if you facilitated such an advance of highly technological Belarus into the African continent. If it doesn’t contradict your policy, I’d like to request your support,” the president noted.

The meeting with Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa was very substantial. The presidents discussed the realization of the cooperation roadmap, sketched out steps to expand interaction and hold a session of the bilateral intergovernmental commission soon.

"Indeed, we have achieved certain results in our cooperation, as you have already said. But we still have a lot of work to do. We are ready to implement the plan that we outlined during my visit to Zimbabwe," the Belarusian leader said.

The Belarusian president also mentioned Zimbabwe’s accomplishments in agribusiness development. This became possible, among other things, thanks to cooperation with Belarus and the supply of modern farm machines. “You have started exporting grain and so on,” he stressed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also invited Emmerson Mnangagwa to visit Belarus.

An agreement on advancing interagency cooperation was reached during the meeting with Kenyan President William Ruto. The heads of state sketched out concrete spheres of cooperation such as primarily agriculture, manufacturing sector, education, and healthcare. The presidents agreed to invigorate interstate contacts as fast as possible.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “In order for us to have substantial talks and establish our relations (this is why we are going to talk), I think that you could come to us, I could come to you at a time that is convenient for you. As a result of these visits our specialists could work (just like with Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea) and we could put together some plan of our cooperation while understanding what you need from us. And we could look at your country and determine our needs.”

The Belarus president also met with other African leaders on the sidelines of the summit. Key spheres, which worry African countries today, were discussed during these meetings. Those are agricultural technologies, education, healthcare, technological development, and information technologies. They discussed not only prospects of development of new information technologies but, as the president put it, one should not forget about the old technologies that Belarus has and which Africa badly needs nowadays.