DZERZHINSK DISTRICT, 21 August (BelTA) – While talking to employees of the food company Agrokombinat Dzerzhinskiy on 21 August, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko explained why Russian specialists had been hired to work in the Belarusian National State TV and Radio Company, BelTA has learned.
“Nature abhors a vacuum. About 60,000 Belarusian so-called migrant workers work in Russia. In various positons, even in politics. Russians don't complain about it to us,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
Aleksandr Lukashenko explained that the Russian reporters had been hired after some employees of the Belarusian state television and radio company had decided to take to the streets and protest. “I've given so much to most of them. They grew up and suddenly understood that something was amiss. Some of them decided to stop working. You don't have to, I tell them.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed he had spoken against pressuring people into staying. “If someone wants to quit, he or she should easily do it. Don't make them stay. Even if they are forced to stay, they will still hold a grudge. If they want to quit, they should have the freedom to do it. I've openly told workers so,” he said.
“They have to understand that competition on the market is tough. I've asked Russians to lend us 2-3 groups of reporters just in case. Six to nine people from the most advanced television company,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “Our young specialists should see how work should be done. Not all the Russians came yet while Belarusian specialists, who had been complaining and protesting so much, said they wanted to go back to work. I told them: fine but only today. Those, who quit tomorrow, will not be allowed to go back.”
“The situation has been stabilized. Those, who want to work, do. Those, who don't, don't. I've even asked Russians to lend me reporters to cover the president's work and set an example of good work. I know these people. Television is normal,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
Naturally, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted, the matter of the difference in salaries for Russian and Belarusian specialists emerged. “We don't pay the Russian specialists at all. Can't I find friends in Russia to pay 6 or 9 people?” he asked. “This is why you shouldn't talk about aircraft that keep transporting Russians here and the rest. We don't need many. It is clear who is hyping up the situation.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko concluded that a sufficient number of specialists are available on the market, including in neighboring countries. They can be hired if necessary.
The same is true for a number of other companies, including Belaruskali where the average salary is measured in thousands of rubles. “Why do they have to go on strike? If they want to go on strike, I told the director of the company not to run after them. There are 2,000 people in Soligorsk who want to work for Belaruskali. They will come. If they won't, there is unemployment all over the world. Miners will come from Ukraine. There is a great number of unemployed workers,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
