The economy's performance, response to sanctions, development of Chernobyl-affected territories - Lukashenko hears report from Golovchenko

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko received Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko for a report, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko received Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko for a report, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

On the Economy's Performance

First and foremost, Alexander Lukashenko inquired about the economy's performance: "In the first approximation, what do we have for the first quarter?". At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that the main thing is not the results of the first quarter, but the assessment for the future – what will happen, what is planned to be achieved by the end of the year, taking into account problematic issues.

"I read various forecasts in the media: the IMF, the World Bank, and many other domestic analysts provide assessments. But I have seen these results and forecasts for many years: they have never been objective, and we have never worked as they predicted. Therefore, the government must have the most accurate forecast: what we will ultimately have, considering the existing problems," the President noted.

On Retaliatory Sanctions Measures

According to Alexander Lukashenko, one of these problems is the attempt to intimidate Belarus with sanctions. He emphasized that this cannot be left unanswered. "The Europeans are particularly diligent in this. I will not elaborate here or express any opinions, I will just say, so that you understand: if the Europeans want problems for themselves in connection with these sanctions, they will get them. I will say nothing more. Time will tell. But I will ask you, as it was before this American economic swagger, to provide me with information about the largest European projects in our country and the enterprises established in Belarus: we will look at their performance," the head of state instructed.

He also tasked the government, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to review the activities in Belarus related to the so-called Western humanitarian programs.

"These non-profit organizations, foreign agents, all sorts of bandits who are ripping us off and so on. I instructed the Head of Administration, you, Sergeenko, to convey that I am monitoring this. We agreed on the re-registration of both these organizations and the media," the President recalled. "Otherwise, they keep us on a short leash and constantly start pulling the strings whenever they feel like it. Whether it's profitable or not – I can see they are no longer thinking about it. Well, if they don't think about it – fine, they will travel to Russia via... They will sail the Baltic Sea, transport cargo, and go around Spain into the Mediterranean Sea and through the Black Sea, if they are unhappy with normal Belarus in the centre of Europe."

"In general, I always ask the question: who benefits from this and why? Listen, we are defending our country, and we, and the entire nation, want to live in our own country. We are defending it. Are we to be punished with sanctions for this? Therefore, we must respond," emphasized Alexander Lukashenko. "Instead, we act in a Belarusian way: hide our heads in the sand like ostriches and think, well, we'll endure it, we'll put up with it. No. We need to show that we are a nation and we have our own land, our own country."

On combating the consequences of the pandemic

Furthermore, during the meeting, the financing of anti-COVID measures was discussed. The Head of State also highlighted the importance of supporting doctors and medical personnel working in red zones.

"I was informed during my trip that there are certain problems (if they exist, of course) with the financing of anti-COVID measures. Of course, we have spent enormous amounts of money. These last scoundrels, the Europeans and Americans. They haven't helped us at all, absolutely. Although both the WHO and the UN constantly declare that someone needs to be supported and so on. Well, they haven't helped, and that's fine, we are not asking them. No, they have to tighten the screws, they have to worsen the situation here," said the President. "How are things here? The main thing is that we have treated and will continue to treat our people. And, God willing, this problem will be eliminated as it is currently being eliminated. So that we support those doctors who are still working in red zones with COVID patients."

On the recovery of Chernobyl-affected regions

During the meeting, Alexander Lukashenko also addressed the issues that were discussed during his recent working trip to the districts affected by the Chernobyl NPP disaster. It was then decided to develop a new program for the development of the relevant territories by September.

"We should not solve the Chernobyl problem wholesale, as we have usually done. We need to determine in each district, in each agro-town, what needs to be done there. We must restore the standard of living and safety that existed before the Chernobyl disaster. All problems have been identified, we just need to decide where we will do what. And we will have to create the necessary conditions for people: infrastructure plus housing. Because we will build enterprises, but who will work in them?" said the President. "We need to adopt this final program to level out the standard of the Chernobyl regions."

On Cooperation with Russia

The Head of State also asked Roman Golovchenko to report on the outcomes of the EAEU Intergovernmental Council in Kazan and the details of his negotiations with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. "The President of Russia and I agreed that you and Mishustin would meet at this stage and try, if possible, to finally crystallize at least those issues that may still need to be finally resolved at the presidential level. I proposed to do this at the Supreme State Council, where everyone will be present: both prime ministers and the heads of our parliaments. But we need to prepare for this," added Alexander Lukashenko.

Roman Golovchenko briefly commented on the results of the economy's performance in the first quarter of this year. According to him, the achieved results indicate that the economy has entered a growth trajectory. Gross domestic product has slightly increased and amounted to almost 101%. "We are ahead of schedule, and the trajectory is upward. For four months, we expect 101.4%, and for the half-year, we plan to reach almost 102%," said the Prime Minister. He added that industry has become the main driver of growth among sectors.

Source: belta.by