Ensuring peace and stability, economic growth and a decent standard of living for the people remain priority tasks. This was stated by Alexander Lukashenko on December 30 during the introduction of Alexander Kosinets as Head of the Administration of the President of Belarus, BELTA was informed by the press service of the Belarusian leader.
Ensuring peace and stability, economic growth and a decent standard of living for the people remain priority tasks. This was stated by Alexander Lukashenko on December 30 during the introduction of Alexander Kosinets as Head of the Administration of the President of Belarus, BELTA was informed by the press service of the Belarusian leader.
The change of leadership personnel is a natural process in any state. Nothing stands still in life, and personnel decisions should always correspond to the current situation, believes the President of Belarus.
"Three days ago, I made a number of personnel decisions that affected the government and the Administration of the President. The essence of these decisions is known to you. The position of the Head of the Administration of the President is one of the key ones in our management system. We have said more than once: the Administration of the President is the headquarters of the head of state. And much depends on who heads this headquarters," emphasized Alexander Lukashenko. He characterized Alexander Kosinets as an experienced and strong-willed leader with extensive leadership experience. At one time, Alexander Kosinets was the rector of one of the leading universities, as well as a deputy prime minister, overseeing the most important areas of social policy, healthcare, and culture. He headed the Vitebsk region for many years.
The President of Belarus believes that Alexander Kosinets' initiative, energy, decisiveness, and business acumen are the qualities that will allow him to successfully cope with his new high responsibilities. And he will bring new powerful energy to the work of the Administration of the President.
Two new deputies are joining the staff of the Administration of the President - Nikolai Snopkov and Igor Buzovsky. Both of them worked in the Administration of the President at one time. Both have serious leadership experience. Nikolai Snopkov was the Minister of Economy, Igor Buzovsky headed the largest youth organization. The head of state expressed confidence that they will cope with their new areas of work with dignity.
The President stressed: "The coming year is an examination for all authorities, and the people will evaluate our collective work." "We have no extraordinary tasks. The tasks remain the same – to preserve peace and order in the country, ensure economic growth and a decent standard of living for the people," noted Alexander Lukashenko. At the same time, he said that he sees no reason for price increases in the country, as the cost of production has not increased, and the components of the cost of production, namely resources and raw materials, have not increased in price.
The Head of State emphasized that working with personnel is a key task of the Presidential Administration. "My requirements are known: professionalism, complete dedication to work, and, most importantly, results. I would also add – selfless service to the people," said the President. He also stressed that such a quality as arrogance is completely unacceptable for officials and civil servants. The Head of State believes that there are still many problems in working with personnel. In particular, in his opinion, the management apparatus is being updated slowly. The effectiveness of using personnel reserves at the local level is extremely low. Currently, there are many vacancies for managerial positions in republican and local authorities.
Alexander Lukashenko stressed that no one is seriously working with the young leaders of the vertical, and the practice of mentorship has been forgotten. "People with limited thinking, who are afraid or unwilling to take the initiative, make independent decisions and take responsibility for the results, often enter public service," the President noted. "Bureaucratization and ossification of the state apparatus hinder the country's development."
The Head of State noted that his main requirements for personnel remain unchanged. According to him, the new appointments have launched the process of personnel rejuvenation. "And this course will be continued in all spheres of our life," the President stated. "This should become your daily task – to have a personnel reserve, from which to nurture young managers capable of finding quick solutions in any non-standard situation. Otherwise, we will be hopelessly behind the rapidly changing world around us."
According to Alexander Lukashenko, serious work needs to be done with the database of gifted youth. "This is the main wealth we must work with. Yes, not all of them, but many will become managers. We just need to develop a system," believes the Head of State.
Alexander Lukashenko is convinced that "a person who has not seen a machine tool in a workshop or land on an agricultural enterprise cannot be a good minister. The Minister of Education who does not know what a school or university is cannot be a good minister. A person who does not know life cannot be a good manager."
The Head of State noted that the most important issue is to increase the responsibility of personnel. "The faster the situation around our state changes, the sharper it becomes, the stricter the demands on management personnel will be," said the President of Belarus.
The decree adopted to strengthen the requirements for management personnel and employees of organizations serves as proof of this. "If someone complained about a lack of authority yesterday, today - please, work," said Alexander Lukashenko. - But along with the acquired rights, be responsible for the assigned task."
According to the President, the so-called notorious human factor is becoming decisive in every workplace - from an ordinary worker and a rural worker to the Prime Minister.
The Head of State announced the importance of optimising the number of state employees and the functions of state bodies. "We need to get rid of excessive numbers in the state apparatus, raising salaries for the rest," the President believes. - We need to discard unnecessary functions. We know perfectly well what is useful and what needs to be eradicated. It is also necessary to increase executive discipline."
Alexander Lukashenko believes that there is a lot of work to be done to de-bureaucratise management mechanisms in all spheres of life. "This is your priority task, together with the government, in the near future. All state bodies have reserves for improving their work," said the Head of State.
In addition, Alexander Lukashenko instructed to create a system for effective selection of students of the Academy of Management under the President of Belarus and monitoring their career growth. And also to revise approaches to training personnel reserves based on the realities of the economy and public life.
"We must build a new system for selecting true professionals, as well as training youth. The Academy of Management under the President of the Republic of Belarus should play its role here," emphasised the Head of State. For now, there are many shortcomings in the work of this university, said Alexander Lukashenko. In particular, the Academy of Management has not yet managed to become a true forge of management personnel. Alexander Lukashenko expressed hope that this problem will be solved next year.
The Head of State emphasized that the economy was, is, and remains a key priority. "If we solve economic problems, no troubles will befall us," the President stated.
He also noted: "We will cope with all internal and external threats. We will not allow any fifth column to destabilize the country. But if we allow an economic downturn, we may lose everything – people's trust, stability in the country, and the country itself."
Alexander Lukashenko stressed that, undoubtedly, the government is the country's main economic headquarters. It, along with the National Bank, has been granted all necessary powers and levers of control. "However, alongside the government, all other authorities – local, regional, the Presidential Administration, and the Committee of State Control – must also work," said the Head of State. "We should not interfere with each other's work, nor should we divide problems into 'ours' and 'theirs'. We have a common problem: to prevent economic shocks, protect our people, and achieve positive growth in the coming year."
Alexander Lukashenko demanded that the Presidential Administration maintain strict control over the clear implementation of all decisions made in the economic sphere and all presidential instructions.
Furthermore, the Head of State noted the exceptional importance of the work of the government's social bloc and emphasized that the Presidential Administration must keep these issues constantly in focus, especially since many problems have accumulated there.
Alexander Lukashenko demanded that the system of ideological work be structured in accordance with the requirements of the time.
"Direct contact with people is important in ideological work," the Head of State is convinced. He believes that it is necessary to consider how to competently organize information work.
Alexander Lukashenko also noted that the work of leading media outlets needs to be re-analyzed. "They are required to show maximum creativity, and at the same time, they must focus on the main thing – serious, convincing, and accessible informational and analytical programs. Television should not only entertain and amuse but also explain and, if you will, educate," the President believes.
According to him, the information situation around Belarus has always been challenging. However, all attempts to use sophisticated information technologies against us have been unsuccessful so far.
Continuing the theme of ideological work, Alexander Lukashenko said: "Every leader – of a region, a city, a district, or an individual enterprise – must remember that they are the chief ideologist in their assigned territory or organization. No one can afford to neglect ideological work due to current production issues. Successes at an enterprise should form the basis for ideological work."
The President also stated that ideological matters should be under the constant control of the Head of State's Administration.
He noted that the Presidential Administration's focus should encompass not only domestic but also foreign policy issues. "The geopolitical situation, both globally and around our country, is becoming increasingly complex," the President emphasized. According to him, the task of developing and implementing proactive measures in response to external threats must be addressed in cooperation with the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The next year will be pivotal for Belarus in many areas. In particular, the Eurasian Economic Union will become a reality. Here, according to the President, it is imperative not to compromise national interests.
"A separate issue concerns relations with the West," Alexander Lukashenko noted. "Indeed, there are positive developments in both the political and economic spheres. Let us continue to work in this direction. However, under no circumstances should we allow pressure to be exerted upon us. Pressure from either the West or the East is unacceptable, especially in connection with the upcoming elections." Belarus pursues a multi-vector foreign policy, the President stressed.
Speaking about cooperation with the West, the President also remarked: "We border the West and do not desire any conflicts – neither political nor diplomatic. Half of our trade is with them. If the West extends a hand of cooperation, we should seize this opportunity. We will strive for the normalization of relations with the West. If they wish to cooperate with us on equal terms and are sending signals to that effect, we will receive this signal. We have always spoken about this – let us sit down at the negotiating table and reach an agreement."
Addressing relations with Russia, Alexander Lukashenko said: "No one in the world can replace this country for us today. Belarus will not act to the detriment of fraternal Russia."
"One of the most important tasks of the Presidential Administration is to coordinate state policy in the legal sphere. This function of the Administration must be given close attention and acted upon more decisively, not relying solely on approaches proposed by other bodies," the President said. According to him, in 2014, there were a number of legislative initiatives by the government, the consequences of which were not systematically calculated. Sometimes, certain hotheads put forward ideas that caused such public resonance that the President had to intervene. Alexander Lukashenko noted that in such situations, the Presidential Administration should not be an observer or a simple controller.
According to Alexander Lukashenko, the state of legislative activities of the Ministry of Justice, whose promptness and quality of work are sometimes complained about by state bodies, should also be within the focus of the Presidential Administration.
An important component of the Presidential Administration's activities in the legal sphere is the coordination of draft laws considered by the parliament.
Ensuring full interaction between the Head of State and the legislative and judicial authorities is another of the main tasks of the Presidential Administration. All conditions for the functioning of the parliament and the judicial system have been created in Belarus. And here, one must see the prospects and improve the work.
In the opinion of Alexander Lukashenko, the Presidential Administration must keep its finger on the pulse of the situation in the regions, thoroughly know the problems of local authorities and self-government. And here, the assistants to the President – chief inspectors for the regions, whose scope of activity includes personnel work – must have a significant say. "But this does not mean that the assistant should substitute for the governor, excessively interfere in the work. One must express one's point of view, but the decision remains with the governor," the Head of State noted.
He also stressed that working with appeals from citizens and legal entities is a crucial area of activity for the Presidential Administration.
"I understand how busy the Presidential Administration is with appeals. But it is unacceptable when these letters sometimes return to the very person against whom citizens or collectives complain. Next year, I will find an opportunity to check commissionally how my instructions are being fulfilled in this regard," the Head of State emphasized. "There are people who turn to the President as a last resort. And we must think about how to help these people," said the Belarusian leader.
The Head of State stated that the system for handling citizens' appeals needs to be improved and it should be remembered that debureaucratization has been and remains a key policy direction in Belarus, and this is the personal responsibility of the Head of the President's Administration.