1 April, Minsk Region / Vladimir Matveev - BELTA/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is directing the Ministry of Agriculture and Food to conclude long-term contracts for the supply of agricultural products abroad. The head of state gave the corresponding instruction today during a working trip to the Minsk Region, according to a BELTA correspondent. In particular, potatoes were discussed. "We need to conclude long-term contracts for potato supplies this year," said Alexander Lukashenko. "This is Moscow, St. Petersburg, Russia, part of Ukraine, and that will be enough for us. We are not going to endlessly expand potato cultivation. We need to conclude long-term contracts for optimal volumes." The head of state once again drew special attention to the need for strict compliance with his requirement to create proper conditions for potato storage. Storing the harvest of this crop in clamps, where losses reach 30-40%, is simply unacceptable in modern conditions. "My requirement was primarily due to the fact that many premises are used wastefully. There are plenty of them across the country – both in Minsk and elsewhere. We need to bring what we have into good order," said the head of state. "And you are asking me for billions. There will be no billions." At the same time, the President noted that a rational approach to solving this issue is necessary: if it is impossible to raise, for example, pigs in some vacant premises, they can perfectly serve as potato storage facilities. "We need to be thrifty. The time has come to think for ourselves," emphasized Alexander Lukashenko. The head of state also warned that all attracted credit resources will have to be repaid by agricultural organizations, and the state will not write them off. "If they think they will be written off, or we will give them this money as a gift – that will not happen," the President stressed. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, this year it is planned to obtain 1.5 million tons of potatoes in agricultural organizations and peasant (farmer) farms, of which more than 430 thousand tons can be exported. Currently, the republic's agriculture has potato storage facilities with a capacity of 231.3 thousand tons. In order to eliminate the storage of potatoes in clamps, in accordance with the instruction of the head of state, it is planned to build and reconstruct potato storage facilities with a capacity of 356.2 thousand tons in agricultural organizations and farms. -0-

BELTA