On December 16, Minsk / Vladimir Matveev - BELTA /. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has instructed to cut the budget of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Belarus for 2012 by 25-30%. He set this task today at a plenary meeting of the seminar for managers on import substitution, BELTA correspondent reports. "Deputies are present here, they will approve the budget in the near future. For next year, the Academy of Sciences budget should be cut compared to this year's level. Track this," the head of state instructed. "They work on their own, earn decent money, it's time to gradually wean them off the 'trough'. "Let it not be by half, but 25-30% must be cut. As long as we feed not only scientists, but anyone, including manufacturers, and give money from the budget, and non-refundable money at that, they won't do anything. I haven't said anything new - that's life," Alexander Lukashenko emphasized. The President also noted that the most important task now is to involve the scientific community in solving the tasks of the import substitution program. "If you do this, we will support you; if you don't, don't count on state assistance," the Belarusian leader said. -0-

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