SLUTSK, 6 August (BelTA) – By the end of the year the government will prepare comprehensive proposals on developing the sugar industry. Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko made the statement while talking to employees of Slutsk Sugar Plant, BelTA has learned.
Roman Golovchenko said: “What the future of the sugar industry will be like is a thorny issue. Slutsk Sugar Plant should have no problems. It is a powerful enterprise with a good output, an upgraded enterprise. We should think about optimizing the sugar industry as a whole and about what we should do about raw materials. The president has given an instruction and by the end of the year the government will have to come up with a comprehensive proposal on how Belarus' sugar industry will work and develop in the future. The organization of the process flow is what matters.”
The head of government noted that the state will keep supporting the sugar industry. The industry was modernized in the last 15-17 years. As much as $250 million was invested in the last five years. The country makes sugar out of domestic raw materials and no longer imports raw sugar. Optimal raw materials zones have been created for growing sugar beet.
At the same time there are some problems. Sugar overproduction puts pressure on prices in the countries, which are the main trade partners of Belarus. “Sugar business is just like any other business. There is a dependence on prices for raw materials and prices on international markets,” the prime minister stated.
