MINSK, 14 January (BelTA) – Housing construction projects should be undertaken by enterprises that have adequate resources, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting with senior members of the Council of Ministers on 14 January, BelTA has learned.
“All the entrepreneurs and business people that are involved in development projects, in particular, housing construction (they go to extraordinary lengths to get such orders) have already made a million dollars at the minimum. All who went into this business have become rich very fast, at the age of 25-40 years. How come? Even in America people do not make so much money so fast. The question is: how did these people manage to get rich so fast? It is good that people make money, no problem with that, but you should earn this money, you should sweat for it. Instead, these people took advantage of the market economy opportunities to make a fortune at the expense of those who purchase this housing. This is not okay,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The president recalled his long-standing instruction on pricing policies for housing under construction. The experiment of the Effective Industrial Constructions Plant has revealed that a developer can do well even with the profit margin of 5%. “The prices are reasonable, the company did not go bankrupt, it is not in the red. At the same time some people tell me that if we go this way, it will give rise to financial manipulations and developers will eventually cease to exist. All of you have homes and your housing is not bad. Do not forget about people in need of housing, we should help. We should make sure they can build their homes at affordable prices,” the head of state said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko asked why other companies cannot operate with the profit margin of 5%. “If they cannot, let them wait in line: we will give them what is left. We will give construction orders to those who can build housing with a 5% profit margin, with smaller costs and lower prices. It does not matter for us if it is a private or a state-owned company. We will determine a budget and a developer should stay within it. Our people are not rich to pay a double price for their housing in order to help fat cats line their pockets,” the president noted.
The head of state emphasized that housing construction should be done by companies that have the necessary resources for that. “It is not okay when some random people without resources and competences wheedle out a land plot and start building housing there. Does this person have human resources for that? No one. A table and a chair. He approached a construction trust and they built a housing for him. He made good money without doing anything. Therefore, we should give construction orders to those who have the necessary facilities, i.e. development companies,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
