Lukashenko: raising salaries for state employees and the military is a priority

At the Council of Ministers meeting, the President named the increase in salaries for state employees and the military, support for families with children and pensioners as priority areas

The Belarusian Head of State noted the consistency of such a policy, “In general, as it was in 2022, when Br32bn was allocated for these purposes – 3bn more than in 2021. No matter how difficult it is, the state must find money for this.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko demands to pay increased attention to the construction industry, “This also applies to large unfinished projects, in particular, those abandoned by international banks, and, of course, housing construction, including rental housing, with the possibility of transferring ownership to particular categories of citizens under certain conditions. The Architecture Minister is responsible for every square metre and volumes of construction and installation works. Control must be everywhere! Excuses that we tried but failed again, will no longer work. All obligations of the state to create infrastructure in the regions, given at the Belarusian People’s Congress, declared in the five-year plan, must also be strictly fulfilled. The Government needs to find resources for this together with the National Bank. The regional executive committees and the Ministry of Architecture and Construction are responsible for the construction of the infrastructure itself.”

Another critical challenge for our open economy is export growth. The President noted, “Objectively, we have not yet been able to fully compensate for all the losses. As I am informed, about 80 percent have been reoriented to the markets of friendly countries. So the situation is not dramatic. But, everything that was underperformed last year must be increased this year, as promised. To date, we have significantly increased trade with our main strategic partner: Russia. We increased deliveries in physical volumes and have a high margin. However, there are still unresolved problems here, particularly, with the passage of Belarusian woodworking products through the territory of the Russian Federation. This is our export to third countries.”

The Head of State demanded, “Via the EAEU or through other channels, but logistics issues should be settled as quickly and efficiently as possible. The success of the export strategy directly depends on the well-established transport work.”