Dmitry Krutoi
MINSK, 15 January (BelTA) – It is impossible to reach the targeted GDP growth rate of 104.1% without modern infrastructure and without implementing the projects stipulated by the state investment program. Head of the Belarus President Administration Dmitry Krutoi made the statement after Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko received a report on approving the state investment program for the year 2025, BelTA has learned.
After the discussion the president demanded that the state of affairs at facilities, which are supposed to be commissioned in 2025, should be rechecked by the end of January. In particular, it is necessary to check the feasibility of the implementation schedule and what sums can be saved during construction and installation work and during the purchase of certain kinds of equipment. In accordance with instructions of the head of state it will also be necessary to verify the list of facilities, which are supposed to commission in 2026, taking into account inflation parameters and parameters of the monetary management policy.
“Now customers of the state programs, in which these facilities are included, the State Control Committee, the Finance Ministry as the coordinator of budget spending, and the oblast administrations, in which territories the projects are being implemented, will once again carry out the corresponding revision and the final list will be presented to the president,” Dmitry Krutoi said.
In his words, an inspection of facilities, which was carried out by the beginning of 2025, allowed saving 10% of the budget funding, which has been transferred to reserves and can be used, for instance, if some projects require additional funding. “If someone is ready to promptly finance projects in the real sector of the economy, which can produce benefits within a year or two, this reserve money will also be used,” the head of the Belarus President Administration explained.
He pointed out that the sums the state programs appropriate for road construction, land amelioration, the construction of rented housing are not doubted. But the president has instructed to analyze the degree of readiness of the facilities themselves in detail.
“In order to achieve the targeted GDP growth rate of 104.1% (according to a corresponding decree), investments have been declared as the main source of growth – nearly 108%. Without modern infrastructure and the projects stipulated by the state investment program and by regional investment programs it will be simply impossible to hit [performance targets for the year 2025],” Dmitry Krutoi pointed out.
He also explained that since 2018 Belarus has had the practice of working out government programs: “Every economy branch programs its spending within the framework of five-year-long cycles – programs for a five-year term. There is a chapter dedicated to infrastructure projects and capital outlays. Then these annual projects are used to compile a republican investment program and a regional one. While 8-10 years ago we started out by simply collecting applications from government agencies, today the Finance Ministry and the Economy Ministry primarily consider objects stipulated by state programs. The objects cannot change a lot over the course of a five-year cycle.”
In this manner objects from industry-specific state programs become the foundation for a large state investment program. They make up about 70% of the state investment program. “Every minister understands where and what will be built for the next five years,” the official explained. “The problem is the cost, topicality and efficiency, the returns mentioned by the president.”
“Nobody is going to radically change the ratio of social programs to real sector programs. And the president has not set such a task. The program-based system will stay in the country. It has proven its efficiency. And the fact that in 2023, in 2024 amid sanctions our economy demonstrated a growth rate as high as 104% proves that the investment policy is efficient,” Dmitry Krutoi stressed. “But all the state customers should be mindful of the matter of efficiency.”
“There is no need to change this system. It is necessary to simply use it and reach the targets set by program documents,” he added.
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