23 August, Tolochin District /Olga Belyavskaya - BELTA/. Belarus will establish a logistics system for exporting potatoes to neighbouring countries. This was stated today to journalists by the Prime Minister of Belarus, Mikhail Myasnikovich, in response to a question from a BELTA correspondent. "We in the government are considering the issue of creating logistics, for example, in neighbouring countries, to build storage facilities in Russia and other states and to store potatoes from autumn, and then sell them during the off-season," the Prime Minister said. According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, Belarusian farmers need to revise their approaches to organising potato supplies to other countries. "You need to know how to sell potatoes," he stressed. "Selling them in bulk, as it was before, means trading at a loss." The head of government added that potatoes need to be brought to a marketable condition, and the volumes of their deep processing should be increased. "If there is industrial processing, there will not be such a great need for potato storage," he said. The Prime Minister drew attention to the fact that the main thing now is not so much to produce in bulk, but to preserve the potatoes. "Demand for this crop will grow," Mikhail Myasnikovich is confident. He said that this year the areas under potatoes have been increased by 20%. "The potatoes this year are good, the main task is to harvest and preserve them qualitatively," he stressed. "In accordance with the plans, we are meeting this year's target." At the same time, some issues in potato growing remain unresolved. For example, a number of regions have delayed projects for the construction and commissioning of new potato storage facilities. In this regard, the Prime Minister demanded that the construction of such facilities be completed within one to two months to ensure a high level of storage for the agricultural crop. "This year, not only seed potatoes, but all marketable potatoes should be stored in the facilities," he added. At the same time, such facilities should ensure a high level of potato storage. "We need to move towards this, so that all potatoes are preserved until the new harvest," said Mikhail Myasnikovich. "If the storage is good, then export is possible during the winter-spring period, especially when potato prices rise." The head of government stressed that for the successful sale of potatoes to other countries, farms need not only a competent marketing policy, but also a high level of potato storage.-0-