Yermolovich: Strategic Project Centre under development in Belarus
The Deputy Head of Belarus’ President Administration, Maksim Yermolovich, explained why the country needs its own Strategic Project Centre
Speaking at today’s meeting with the participation of the Head of State on improving the strategic project planning system, Mr. Yermolovich noted, “The issue of creating a Strategic Project Centre has been worked out following the President’s instruction. The analysis of problematic issues arising during the planning and implementation of major investment projects has been carried out. The foreign and domestic – primarily, Soviet – experience of creating large-scale production facilities has been studied.”
According to Mr. Yermolovich, Gosplan [State Planning Committee] acted as a centre of large-scale projects in the Soviet Union. It controlled the implementation of national economic plans, co-ordinated and financed technical and economic research of scientific and design organisations, implemented projects of especially large enterprises and construction projects.
“Objectively, there is not a unified centre in Belarus today that could determine large-scale investment projects and capital investments. The process of their development is decentralised and carried out according to the proposals of republican public administration bodies, regional executive committees or investors. The most significant projects in the history of sovereign Belarus – such as the Belarusian nuclear power plant, the Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation, BelGee, modernisation of the wood processing industry – were initiated directly by the Head of State. Even in conditions of such initial measures, the implementation of the projects experienced insufficient interdepartmental interaction,” the official added.
According to Mr. Yermolovich, the executors were faced with the need to re-discuss, co-ordinate and justify the investments. At present, problems arise both at the stage of developing design solutions (what should be constructed and where) and during the construction process.
With this in view, the Government has made a proposal to create a Strategic Project Centre, which will develop ideas for large-scale state projects and calculate their economic efficiency.
