MINSK, 9 September (BelTA) - All enterprises in Belarus operate as usual, and no plant has stopped working completely, even during strikes, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview to representatives of Russia's leading mass media outlets on 8 September, BelTA has learned.
“Everybody is working now,” the head of state said, answering a question about the current situation at Belarusian enterprises. He did not rule out that some plant workers are still taking part in protests. “Maybe even now, as part of that crowd, people [working at the factories] are coming out on Sunday. But today's worker is not a worker of two months ago, when some of the people were brainwashed,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.
The president emphasized that destructive forces prepared strikes at enterprises in advance, set up organizational structures and identified leaders. “Workers were said that it was possible not to work and get money. Someone must have fallen for it,” the Belarusian leader said.
People suspended work at some enterprises. For example, there was a problem at the Belaruskali ore departments when a part of them stopped operating. “As soon as information was received that Belaruskali allegedly went on strike, [Chairman of the Board of Directors of Uralkhim Dmitry] Mazepin, Uralkali immediately concluded necessary contracts and began supplies on the potash market. We communicated this to the workers. The next day, all the ore departments resumed operation, and worked overtime to make up for the gap,” the president said.
There were similar situations at other enterprises as well. The head of state visited one of them. After talking to the workers and explaining that important contracts could be thwarted during the stoppage and the vacant niche would be quickly occupied by competitors, the enterprises' operation was stabilized.
The head of state stressed that Belarusian enterprises have been working in close cooperation with Russian ones, retaining those ties since the Soviet Union. “All the post-Soviet countries, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, began to destroy cooperative ties that had been established long ago. The only ‘anti-Russian' figure, Lukashenko, has preserved those ties (that's how Lukashenko was described in your country - I was called Russia's enemy who turned his back on Russia),” the president said.
According to him, Russia remains one of Belarus' main trade and economic partners, accounting for some 48% of the country's exports. “This figure stood at 85% when the Soviet Union collapsed. I purposefully worked to diversify the markets. You criticized me for that. What would you do in my place? You cannot depend on one point, one country, and not just because it can turn its back on you one day (although different things happened). If there is instability there, where you supply 85% of your goods, you will collapse right away. That is why I diversified the country's exports,” Aleksandr Lukashenko explained.
Belarus implements large-scale innovative projects with Russia, including the construction of a nuclear power plant, and the ones in the space sector. The possibility of Belarus' participation in the completion of the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia's Amur Oblast is under discussion.
