Posted:
07.11.2025 10:59:03
Lukashenko on developing Polesie: do it sensibly, no ‘foolishness’
While touring the Saturn-1 metalworks in Zhitkovichi, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that he expects a report on implementing the Polesie development plan in the near future
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Aleksandr Lukashenko immediately asked Ivan Krupko, Chairman of the Gomel Regional Executive Committee, about the state of affairs, “Tell me, based on the analysis of economic indicators, what is wrong? I’ll say at the beginning that there has been some progress. As I was flying from Minsk —there is nothing to pick on in some cases.”
However, the Belarusian leader pointed out that not all the land that could be cultivated had been ploughed — and it is important to do so to avoid overgrowing on these plots of land.
“We have everything we need to bring the reclaimed fields the Soviet Union once invested billions of roubles in into good condition,” the President noted, adding that for this purpose, a corresponding state initiative on land reclamation had been adopted. Aleksandr Lukashenko’s main requirement is to do it sensibly.
As for land reclamation, Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed ‘we haven't ruined anything in Polesie’ in this respect, “We have not turned Polesie, covered in forests and swamps, into a drained land. We have obtained fields for agriculture and established collective farms and state farms in these parts of Polesie wherever possible. We are now creating modern farms using these collective ones that we were wise enough not to destroy.”
The Belarusian leader noted that a new development plan for Polesie is being implemented and that expects to hear a report on its progress in the near future, “The this is, there will be no ‘foolishness’. We’ll invest money in some specific areas.”
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First of all, the country will focus on solving major tasks, such as building infrastructure, including roads, land reclamation, as well as developing agricultural towns with comfortable living standards to retain young people in these areas. Meanwhile, local issues should be resolved at the local level.
Addressing Ivan Krupko, Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded him to keep an eye on such ‘remote’ areas as Zhitkovichi, “I won't say that Zhitkovichi is abandoned. I won't say that they haven't started to move (may it not be just for the show). They have ploughed small plots of land along the roads that had never been ploughed. They should be involved in crop rotation. Everything needs to be put in order.”
Apart from that, the Belarusian leader once again drew the attention of officials and enterprise executives to the most important issue — paying salaries to workers, “Even if he (an executive) is ‘dying’ with a single penny left — he should give it to his workers. People must be paid, whatever the cost, from all sources, even if the enterprise is unprofitable.
The President emphasised that the Gomel and Vitebsk regions are the two flanks of Belarus — in the south and in the north, “They need to be put in order.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko immediately asked Ivan Krupko, Chairman of the Gomel Regional Executive Committee, about the state of affairs, “Tell me, based on the analysis of economic indicators, what is wrong? I’ll say at the beginning that there has been some progress. As I was flying from Minsk —there is nothing to pick on in some cases.”
However, the Belarusian leader pointed out that not all the land that could be cultivated had been ploughed — and it is important to do so to avoid overgrowing on these plots of land.
“We have everything we need to bring the reclaimed fields the Soviet Union once invested billions of roubles in into good condition,” the President noted, adding that for this purpose, a corresponding state initiative on land reclamation had been adopted. Aleksandr Lukashenko’s main requirement is to do it sensibly.
As for land reclamation, Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed ‘we haven't ruined anything in Polesie’ in this respect, “We have not turned Polesie, covered in forests and swamps, into a drained land. We have obtained fields for agriculture and established collective farms and state farms in these parts of Polesie wherever possible. We are now creating modern farms using these collective ones that we were wise enough not to destroy.”
The Belarusian leader noted that a new development plan for Polesie is being implemented and that expects to hear a report on its progress in the near future, “The this is, there will be no ‘foolishness’. We’ll invest money in some specific areas.”
First of all, the country will focus on solving major tasks, such as building infrastructure, including roads, land reclamation, as well as developing agricultural towns with comfortable living standards to retain young people in these areas. Meanwhile, local issues should be resolved at the local level.
Addressing Ivan Krupko, Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded him to keep an eye on such ‘remote’ areas as Zhitkovichi, “I won't say that Zhitkovichi is abandoned. I won't say that they haven't started to move (may it not be just for the show). They have ploughed small plots of land along the roads that had never been ploughed. They should be involved in crop rotation. Everything needs to be put in order.”
Apart from that, the Belarusian leader once again drew the attention of officials and enterprise executives to the most important issue — paying salaries to workers, “Even if he (an executive) is ‘dying’ with a single penny left — he should give it to his workers. People must be paid, whatever the cost, from all sources, even if the enterprise is unprofitable.
The President emphasised that the Gomel and Vitebsk regions are the two flanks of Belarus — in the south and in the north, “They need to be put in order.”
