President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has generally supported the draft law on improving scientific activities, but some provisions require further refinement. This was stated to journalists by the Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Karanyk, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
"In principle, the draft decree has been supported, with some of its provisions sent for further refinement, including basic funding. Some parts have been adopted – these include optimizing the structure, enabling pedagogical activities, and increasing supplementary payments for academic degrees in priority areas for our country," said Vladimir Karanyk.
He emphasized that the Academy of Sciences in Belarus is a unique structure that operates on the principle of a scientific and production corporation. As a result, some legislative acts do not account for the fact that the academy has not only a scientific but also a production component.
"Consequently, we are limited in our ability to finance certain areas. The Head of State has instructed to convene with the Ministry of Finance, the government, and the Presidential Administration to determine how to enable the Academy of Sciences to develop more dynamically – both in its production and scientific directions," explained the head of the NAS Presidium.
At the same time, he stated, the fundamental issue is not the funding of science, as it is and will be funded. The issue lies in increasing the efficiency of this process. "If we look at the Academy of Sciences budget for 2026, compared to 2025, there is a 23% increase. This is a significant figure. And the socio-economic development program for the next five-year period envisages an almost twofold increase in spending on scientific and scientific-technical activities," noted Vladimir Karanyk. He stressed that this money must work and yield concrete results, which was the subject of discussion at the meeting with the Head of State.
"It was discussed that if estimates are separated, some might develop a dependency mentality: if money is provided for current maintenance, perhaps there's no need to engage in scientific projects and everything else. The state is prepared to pay for infrastructure, but within the framework of fulfilling state orders or contract activities, allocating a certain percentage for infrastructure," explained Vladimir Karanyk.
At the same time, the head of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences noted, the President reiterated that no one would economise on science. The real sector of the economy will continue to be encouraged to turn to the domestic scientific sphere for solving scientific problems, rather than purchasing ready-made imported technologies at global prices. "And here is our task: not to betray the hopes of manufacturers and to deliver a high-quality scientific and technical product. If everything works out, then the issues of where to find money for current repairs and heating will not be a concern for scientific organisations," added Vladimir Karanik.
In his opinion, the decree on improving scientific activity will also help the structures of the Academy of Sciences to get rid of "ballast". This refers to those components that do not affect the acquisition of new knowledge and the implementation of new projects. In addition, the document will create mechanisms that will allow financing of various areas - for example, fundamental and applied science, as well as agricultural topics.
"When we optimise the structure, remove non-core assets, then we will return to the issue of how to finance within the budget estimate what requires direct funding from the budget," believes Vladimir Karanik. "But it must be understood that optimisation is not aimed at reducing the scope of scientific research. Optimisation is primarily intended to get rid of inefficient and cumbersome management structures. This does not concern scientific staff and researchers. It concerns that part of the Academy of Sciences that does not generate new knowledge and does not solve scientific problems."