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28 January 2020, 12:27

Belarus president wants Vitebsk Oblast agricultural enterprises to pay off all debts

MINSK, 28 January (BelTA) – Agribusiness in Vitebsk Oblast has accumulated as much as Br3 billion in debts. Ways to resolve the problem were discussed at the government conference hosted by Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko on 28 January to consider top-priority measures to ensure steady operation of agribusiness in Vitebsk Oblast, BelTA has learned.

According to Prime Minister Sergei Rumas, the region's entire agribusiness has accumulated debts to the tune of Br3 billion. Specialists had considered various ways of dealing with the debts but no common solution had been worked out. Meanwhile, the head of state wants all the money paid off one way or another.

Sergei Rumas

“We still have a lot of economic problems despite macroeconomic stability. This is why we have to bear it in mind,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed. “Either the agricultural enterprises will keep these debts (we will move deadlines, and banks will stay calm during the deferral period instead of calculating the coefficients) or we will move these debts to the parent company or we will accumulate the debts in the agency [setting up an agency to manage the debts was one of the proposals].”

Arranging “a technical clearance” of the assets of the troubled enterprises in order to remove debts from financial statements was one of the suggestions. The measure will allow automatically improving the coefficient that measures the solvency of the enterprises. The enterprises will become more attractive borrowers because of that.

Aleksandr Lukashenko

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “Consider the possibility of moving the debts into the agency if possible. But the enterprises must pay up at least cent by cent, ruble by ruble. We may give them a respite this year and see how they perform. But starting 1 January 2021 they must pay at least ruble by ruble. They have to understand that debts must be paid off, that debts will not be written off!”

Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded that Belarus is now losing a lot of money due to the tax maneuver in Russia, this is why it is extremely important to look for reserves in every place. “We have to save the oblast and the peasants. In order to save them, we have to unite them and make them work. And we have to pay them good money. We have to tell them they must sell milk and meat to the parent company this year whatever the cost. Or mustn't they? There is a war going on while you waste time on idle talk,” the president criticized the state of affairs.

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