MINSK, 6 February (BelTA) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has appointed new heads of a number of state-owned mass media, BelTA informs.
The head of state appointed new heads of the Belarusian TV and Radio Company and the SB. Belarus Segodnya newspaper. These are Ivan Eismont and Dmitry Zhuk respectively. The head of state also approved the appointment of Igor Lutsky as the director general of the STV channel.
“In fact, thousands of personnel decisions have been made in this room. But I feel rather uncomfortable today. Often I have to replace people because they do not cope with their work. Sometimes they are transferred to other jobs. But you will replace very good heads of mass media outlets Davydko, Yakubovich, and Koziyatko. They are great people, and we cannot lose contact with them,” Alexander Lukashenko said.
The head of state noted that Gennady Davydko is the head of the public association Belaya Rus. “By the way, it is a self-sufficient public association, as far as I know. They have enough membership fees to support themselves and to engage in large charitable work. Therefore, electing Gennady Davydko its chairman is probably a step in the right direction. He is a worthy Belarusian. He has perfected himself for 20 years of our independence. Gennady Davydko, therefore, chose the right path to follow,” the Belarusian leader said.
With regard to Pavel Yakubovich, the president urged not to lose sight of him. “He is in charge of a great piece of work (was elected chairman of the public council under the Interior Ministry – note by BelTA). This work should be stepped up. This is something akin to the oversight of the law enforcement agencies. It was good that the council was not my initiative but that of policemen themselves. Well done!” the head of state noted.
Alexander Lukashenko believes that the functions of the public council should be expanded. “Perhaps, it even needs more staff to become a public council with the supervising functions between the public and the law-enforcement agencies, and, maybe, supervising functions over the law-enforcement bodies,” he said.
“This means Pavel Yakubovich will have enough work to do. Both Pavel Yakubovich and Gennady Davydko need to stay in the mass media sector and cooperate with them. As for Gennady Davydko, I think his status needs to be raised. We need to consider a proposal of appointing him senator in the Council of the Republic. This will make his positions stronger. Pavel Yakubovich also can work there. We need experienced people, the people who went through the watershed period in our history from the Soviet Union to independent Belarus, the people who know everything about that period and understand the changes which took place,” the president said.
