MINSK, 3 May (BelTA) – No substantial progress has been secured yet in resolving problems of the cement industry and the glass one. Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov made the statement during the session of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers on 3 May, BelTA has learned. The session was held to discuss the measures that had been taken to improve the performance of the Belarusian cement and glass industries, reduce the prime cost of their merchandise, and stabilize their financial and economic state. Progress in fulfilling the program on effective utilization of the manufacturing capacity of Belarusian cement industry enterprises in 2015-2020 was also on the agenda.
Andrei Kobyakov said: “I am forced to admit the lack of substantial progress with regard to a number of existing problems. It is confirmed by results of the work of the cement industry and the glass industry in Q1 2016.”
The matter was repeatedly discussed by the Belarus government in 2015. “The head of state has given a number of instructions to improve performance and ensure the sustainable financial state of the cement and glass industries. For the sake of financial rehabilitation of the enterprises in late 2015 a number of decrees and executive orders of the Belarus president were passed to provide state support to the relevant organizations,” said the Prime Minister.
The Belarusian head of government stated that in 2015 Belarusian cement industry enterprises received state support in the form of interest rate payments on domestic loans and payments on loans of the Export-Import Bank of China. Those loans had been taken out to build lines to make cement using the dry technology. The measures improved the financial wellbeing of cement industry enterprises and allowed them to hit their assigned performance targets, including those that state support hinges upon, noted Andrei Kobyakov.
In 2015 and in Q1 2016 glass industry enterprises received state support in the form of interest rate payments on the bank loans that had been taken out to implement investment projects. “But the implementation of this support was less successful,” said the Prime Minister.
Andrei Kobyakov stressed that the government is taking a number of measures for the sake of financial rehabilitation and the improvement of competitive advantages on the domestic market and foreign ones. However, the goals cannot be secured if the enterprises fail to put efforts into reducing the prime cost, increasing export, ensuring the quality of merchandise, and expanding the product range.
Andrei Kobyakov noted that the State Control Committee had analyzed the performance of cement industry enterprises and the fulfillment of the head of state's instructions regarding the use of cement for road construction. As a result of the analysis the work of the Architecture and Construction Ministry, the oblast administrations, and the Minsk city administration has been found dissatisfactory. The Transport and Communications Ministry underperforms in coordinating the fulfillment of these instructions. For instance, in 2015 the oblast administrations and the Minsk city administration spent only 120,000 tonnes of cement for road construction, thus failing the Belarus president's instruction to use up at least 10% of the country's cement output. The lowest percentage of cement consumption for road construction has been registered in Vitebsk Oblast, Minsk Oblast, Mogilev Oblast, and the city of Minsk.
