From nuclear safety to export growth - Lukashenko convenes meeting with Council of Ministers leadership

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko convened a meeting with the leadership of the Council of Ministers on July 22, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

Opening the meeting, the Head of State noted that law-making activity is one of the functions of the President. "The President, perhaps even more than the legislative branch of power, is immersed in the legislative process that is taking place in the country," Alexander Lukashenko noted. "It is good practice to gather with you to consider the most important and relevant normative legal acts."

"Today we have to discuss the drafts of the most important documents on improving the system of public administration and regulation of economic relations. Before signing or rejecting them (as we manage during the discussion), I wanted to consult with you. Therefore, I invited key representatives of the power vertical," said the Head of State.

The President emphasized that when discussing the drafts of these documents, expediency, economic efficiency, and, importantly, social justice should be paramount. "Yes, the law is the same for everyone, and laws must be enforced. But you cannot write everything into laws. And no state has ever been able to write into its laws everything that this society lives by and this state functions on. Therefore, very often, when making certain decisions, we rely on justice," stated Alexander Lukashenko.

As an example, the Head of State cited approaches to privatization: "No one is against privatization; everyone wants the best. But the main issue here is not even based on laws, but on justice: will it be fair to take a state-owned enterprise, as we call them, which were created by the entire nation and even by previous generations, and hand them over to one person? And we constantly encounter this."

On the Management of Radioactive Waste

One of the initiatives is related to the issues of radioactive waste disposal and storage. Alexander Lukashenko noted that they are generated during the operation of ionizing radiation sources, which are actively used in science, medicine, industry, and the defence complex. The second power unit of the Belarusian NPP, which will become the main source of radioactive waste, will soon be commissioned.

The government proposes to establish a special department for radioactive waste management and a specialized organisation that will act as a national operator and will collect, process, store, and dispose of such waste.

The President drew attention to the fact that nuclear waste is not only very dangerous but also a very valuable raw material. "This is a most valuable product. And today the question arises what we will do with this most valuable, but very dangerous, product previously unknown to us. This is a serious issue and the greatest value," the head of state stated. "As international practice shows, the management of such waste requires the creation of a unified state system. In fact, this is a new branch of the economy."

On foreign economic activity and tax administration

In foreign economic activity, the Council of Ministers proposes to introduce the positions of official representatives of the ministries of industry, agriculture and food at the embassy in China, as well as to optimise the staffing of the service personnel of all foreign institutions. "The task set for the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is optimisation. Strengthening our activities in key areas (be it Russia, China, India - where we are striving now and where we are generally accepted and expected) and optimising other embassies - where we are not doing very well today due to certain circumstances," explained Alexander Lukashenko.

To fully digitalise tax accounting, control, and payment, and to improve tax administration, it is proposed to increase the staff numbers of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties. "I would like to hear the motivation. You know my attitude towards increasing the number of staff in ministries and departments," the President noted. "I ask you to explain how additional officials of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties will simplify relations between citizens and tax authorities, ensure the de-bureaucratisation of this sphere, and simplify tax administration."

"All proposals imply additional state expenditures. In this regard, ironclad guarantees are needed that they are timely, that these expenditures are unavoidable, and that they will be effective and generate more revenue than expenses," the Head of State emphasised. "We must be confident that the proposed innovations will ensure the resolution of critical issues, from nuclear security to export growth."

On the Establishment and Operation of Holdings

One of the draft decrees discussed today at a meeting with the Head of State concerns the adjustment of legislation on the establishment and operation of holdings. The document includes provisions aimed at improving the legal status of holdings, the procedure for their establishment and functioning, as well as specific aspects of the operation of state-participating holdings.

"You know my attitude. Legislation, firstly, should not change frequently. And, secondly, if we supplement or amend it, we should ensure that everything has been taken into account," the President stated on this matter. He noted that the issues regulated by the draft decree affect a large number of organisations. Currently, there are 95 holdings in the state register, which unite 643 enterprises producing almost a quarter of the country's industrial output.

"Therefore, I would like to hear more in-depth assessments of what this will bring to the enterprises. Are these proposals 'out of touch with reality'? Is it necessary to do this now, and what will it achieve? What is the actual benefit of their implementation?" the Head of State clarified.

On the Regulation of Entrepreneurial Activity

The agenda of the event also includes the government's proposals on regulating basic forms of entrepreneurial activity - individual entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals. The President stressed that he had repeatedly drawn attention to the need to bring order to this area. "The system must work in such a way that there is not even the slightest prerequisite for paying wages in envelopes," the Belarusian leader demanded. "Tax evasion and shadow turnover in trade and services are unacceptable."

The Head of State tasked the government to weigh everything up again, and together with parliamentarians, relevant departments and local authorities, to comprehensively work through all aspects. "This issue must be approached with the utmost responsibility, analyzing all risks - for employment, budget revenue and the situation in the regions. If global changes in legislation are required, then the stages of its reform must be outlined," Alexander Lukashenko noted.

On postgraduate training of doctors

In addition, the meeting addressed the issue of transitioning to a new form of postgraduate training for specialist doctors (referring to the transition from residency to fellowship). "A very serious topic," Alexander Lukashenko emphasized. "We must decide whether, by improving the current system, we need to break it, even minimally, or not? Will we manage with what we have, or do we need to take this step? And most importantly - is it timely?"

The President stressed that this issue requires additional work and comprehensive discussion.

"A very important question, will we lose the best achievements of our national school in pursuit of foreign standards?" Alexander Lukashenko outlined the priorities on this topic. According to him, this applies not only to healthcare and education, but also to other areas. The Head of State is convinced that it is not necessary to chase foreign trends and blindly adopt them, but it is necessary to improve one's own system, preserving all positive developments.

"We often say, 'Oh, look, abroad the constitution is like this,' or something else. We absolutely must run towards this 'democracy' and move in this direction. Then years pass (I haven't been President for the first year), and it turns out that we took these steps in vain," the President remarked, explaining this with the example of educational innovations, when they started reforming the Soviet school, "chasing the best global examples that were being fed to us," and then found out that Soviet education was not bad at all.

Continuing the analogy about copying foreign standards, the head of state noted: "So the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ran after 'democracy' and created (let Makei not take it personally again, this existed before him too, he inherited it, and now has to sort it out), and we ended up with nearly two thousand NGOs, NPOs, bandits, and foreign agents for a small country. So, did we get democracy?"

"Now we've looked back: this is harmful to the state! There's a cleanup underway. Do you think it's easy? - Alexander Lukashenko continued. - Thousands of people are already working there, our people, and mostly with minds twisted and washed with foreign money."

The President once again stressed the need for a very cautious approach to various innovations. "Of course, we cannot be retrogrades and cling to the outdated, because we will lag behind altogether," he said. - We must not lag behind, but we must run in the right direction and always calculate the consequences of certain steps."

Source: belta.by