MINSK, 30 June (BelTA) – Work with personnel, agricultural industry and investments are the key areas of work for the local authorities, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he appointed new chairmen of district executive committees, BelTA learned.
The president drew attention of the heads of the local authorities to the key areas they must keep an eye on. These include work with personnel, building the economic capacity of the region through investment projects and, of course, the effective operation of the agricultural industry. In all the afore-mentioned areas, management decisions should be timely and verified, the president said.
Agriculture
The president stressed that agriculture remains one of the most important areas of work for district leaders. It is the pillar of economic development of the districts, the well-being of people. Hence the attention is special, both from the president and the government.
Aleksandr Lukashenko reiterated his requirement to preserve the best traditions of the Soviet past: systems of local district agroservices, road, construction organizations and so on. It is important that every district has local suppliers of seeds, fuel, fertilizers, spare parts and so on. “It is necessary to restore things where they were destroyed. The head of a district must put it all together,” the president said.
He stressed that livestock requires the closest attention now. The head of state demanded more decisive and effective measures to solve the problem of livestock loss. According to him, there is no need to invent anything special here or cite shortages of personnel or veterinary drugs as an excuse. The chairmen of the district executive committees have enough managerial levers to solve all these problems. The most important thing is to restore order on farms and ensure executive discipline and elementary compliance with technologies. After all, back in the day there were not so many specialists working on farms. Vets did not have a lot of drugs; a kind word was probably the main one. However, due to a reverent, careful attitude to animals and especially to calves on farms, the loss was minimal.
“Do whatever you want, but prevent the livestock loss,” he said. “I ask you to pay serious attention to this. Tackle this problem whatever it takes; mobilize everyone.”.
A simple and affordable solution to the problem would be sale of calves by less efficient farms for nursery to more successful ones. “Those who sell calves, benefit from this. If young livestock die on your farm it means financial losses. That's the way to get the profit. If you want to keep calves, go ahead, but you will answer for the loss,” the head of state said.
Investment projects
The head of state recalled the one district, one project initiative and drew attention to the fact that it is mandatory for each district of the country. “This program must be implemented. At the end of this year, we will take stock of the results,” Aleksandr Lukashenko warned.
Originally the main goal was to facilitate employment, to create more jobs in small towns, communities and villages. Now this problem is not so pressing for Belarus, the unemployment rate is at a minimum. But this does not mean that the districts do not need modern high-tech enterprises. On the contrary, the initiative should be continued and proposals from private business should be considered. The president stressed that they merit as careful attention as others. “Please pay attention to this,” Aleksandr Lukashenko instructed said as he addressed to the head of Belarus President Administration Dmitry Krutoi.
Head of the Presidential Administration Dmitry Krutoi assured that the newly-appointed chairmen of the district executive committees will meet with local business leaders and ask about their plans, expectations from the local authorities and plans for the coming period. According to him, the current situation on the market (low unemployment and high foreign demand for Belarusian products) is that many private businesses in the districts are ready to scale up, expand and invest.
Touching on the issues Dmitry Krutoi mentioned the distribution of innovative regional or national resources among larger or lesser-populated districts. The latter would like to receive them for larger GDP-forming projects. But, according to the head of the Presidential Administration, here come the issues of sufficient competencies, labor resources and raw materials for such projects.
Aleksandr Lukashenko agreed that when allocating funds for projects, it is important to take into account a set of factors and expect the same approach from district leaders. “Each leader must defend his program, justify his proposals,” the president added.
As an example, he cited the Bellakt company which he recently visited. There, the head of state was briefed of the company’s plans to expand production, but these plans were carefully worked out taking into account the raw material base and future markets. Similarly, districts must justify their projects if they want money from the budget or innovation funds.
The president drew attention of the heads of the local authorities to the key areas they must keep an eye on. These include work with personnel, building the economic capacity of the region through investment projects and, of course, the effective operation of the agricultural industry. In all the afore-mentioned areas, management decisions should be timely and verified, the president said.
Agriculture
The president stressed that agriculture remains one of the most important areas of work for district leaders. It is the pillar of economic development of the districts, the well-being of people. Hence the attention is special, both from the president and the government.
Aleksandr Lukashenko reiterated his requirement to preserve the best traditions of the Soviet past: systems of local district agroservices, road, construction organizations and so on. It is important that every district has local suppliers of seeds, fuel, fertilizers, spare parts and so on. “It is necessary to restore things where they were destroyed. The head of a district must put it all together,” the president said.
He stressed that livestock requires the closest attention now. The head of state demanded more decisive and effective measures to solve the problem of livestock loss. According to him, there is no need to invent anything special here or cite shortages of personnel or veterinary drugs as an excuse. The chairmen of the district executive committees have enough managerial levers to solve all these problems. The most important thing is to restore order on farms and ensure executive discipline and elementary compliance with technologies. After all, back in the day there were not so many specialists working on farms. Vets did not have a lot of drugs; a kind word was probably the main one. However, due to a reverent, careful attitude to animals and especially to calves on farms, the loss was minimal.
“Do whatever you want, but prevent the livestock loss,” he said. “I ask you to pay serious attention to this. Tackle this problem whatever it takes; mobilize everyone.”.
A simple and affordable solution to the problem would be sale of calves by less efficient farms for nursery to more successful ones. “Those who sell calves, benefit from this. If young livestock die on your farm it means financial losses. That's the way to get the profit. If you want to keep calves, go ahead, but you will answer for the loss,” the head of state said.
Working with people
Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that the chairmen of the district executive committees are, figuratively speaking, at the forefront in communication between the state and people. Therefore, they carry a special responsibility.
“I often receive complaints of red tape and indifference (I talk to people). Especially in sectors where we have many problems. I think that the President Administration should bring home the message to all authorities that such things must not happen. Authorities must not be treat people indifferently or dishonestly. They must not! That's all. I always say: if you can help people then do; if you can’t then say so in their face: we will not do this and explain the reasons. Don’t push people away or play these games delaying the answer,” the president outlined his key requirements.
The head of state also spoke about working with personnel on the ground. Some district leaders continue to complain about the shortage of individual specialists and situations when employees or young specialists quit for subjective reasons before the end of q contract or are drafted to the army, and then work on farms for a very short time. Regarding the latter, the president noted that "men must serve" and that the Motherland must be protected.
Regarding personnel (in agriculture and in the districts in general), Aleksandr Lukashenko has a very clear position: the state invests heavily in the training of university specialists, and the applicant, before going to a university, must think a thousand times and make a responsible decision. Their must understand that they will be assigned into jobs. "No university studies for the sake of a diploma! Times have changed," the president said.
He recalled that a number of decisions have been made at the state level to give district executive committee chairpersons additional powers, including in terms of personnel transfers and appointments. They are expected to fully exercise these powers to ensure discipline and good results in their respective districts. “We are all talking about some kind of democracy, freedom… What freedom? If you work hard (as these new local leaders do, since we appoint them), we will support and reward you. But if you are a slacker, if you don't deliver results, if there is a cattle loss... there must be strict accountability at every level,” the president emphasized.
The head of state explained why he addressed the issue in such a way: “Why am I being so firm? Many are already saying: ‘This is serfdom...’ Listen, guys, the situation today is tense. People should pray for this government because we didn't go to war and are still holding on. You see what is happening around us. When internal problems arise, they can be amplified and used against us. Around Belarus, there are forces lurking like snakes under rocks, ready to strike. So let’s make decisions and address the issues that are right in front of us.”
The head of state recalled the one district, one project initiative and drew attention to the fact that it is mandatory for each district of the country. “This program must be implemented. At the end of this year, we will take stock of the results,” Aleksandr Lukashenko warned.
Originally the main goal was to facilitate employment, to create more jobs in small towns, communities and villages. Now this problem is not so pressing for Belarus, the unemployment rate is at a minimum. But this does not mean that the districts do not need modern high-tech enterprises. On the contrary, the initiative should be continued and proposals from private business should be considered. The president stressed that they merit as careful attention as others. “Please pay attention to this,” Aleksandr Lukashenko instructed said as he addressed to the head of Belarus President Administration Dmitry Krutoi.
Head of the Presidential Administration Dmitry Krutoi assured that the newly-appointed chairmen of the district executive committees will meet with local business leaders and ask about their plans, expectations from the local authorities and plans for the coming period. According to him, the current situation on the market (low unemployment and high foreign demand for Belarusian products) is that many private businesses in the districts are ready to scale up, expand and invest.
Touching on the issues Dmitry Krutoi mentioned the distribution of innovative regional or national resources among larger or lesser-populated districts. The latter would like to receive them for larger GDP-forming projects. But, according to the head of the Presidential Administration, here come the issues of sufficient competencies, labor resources and raw materials for such projects.
Aleksandr Lukashenko agreed that when allocating funds for projects, it is important to take into account a set of factors and expect the same approach from district leaders. “Each leader must defend his program, justify his proposals,” the president added.
As an example, he cited the Bellakt company which he recently visited. There, the head of state was briefed of the company’s plans to expand production, but these plans were carefully worked out taking into account the raw material base and future markets. Similarly, districts must justify their projects if they want money from the budget or innovation funds.
“But keep in mind that you also need to be proactive and invest some pennies of yours. Rather than wait for the national budget to allocate you something,” the head of state noted.
"Be proactive! Don’t sit and wait for someone to come and do something for you. As soon as we see that you roll up your sleeves and work from morning till evening, lead people and achieve some results, we will help you and support you,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “What’s the point of helping and supporting people who don’t do a damn thing, and if they do, they fail? Or, which is worse, they do something and spend money, but still no results have been achieved.”
“So I repeat again: be proactive! Today the situation is such that we need to act. Even if things do not work, people will appreciate it. People will see that, well, it didn’t work out. But there were various reasons, objective reasons. They will forgive us for these mistakes and shortcomings. If we do nothing, people will not forgive us. Therefore, only forward!” the head of state said.
"Be proactive! Don’t sit and wait for someone to come and do something for you. As soon as we see that you roll up your sleeves and work from morning till evening, lead people and achieve some results, we will help you and support you,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “What’s the point of helping and supporting people who don’t do a damn thing, and if they do, they fail? Or, which is worse, they do something and spend money, but still no results have been achieved.”
“So I repeat again: be proactive! Today the situation is such that we need to act. Even if things do not work, people will appreciate it. People will see that, well, it didn’t work out. But there were various reasons, objective reasons. They will forgive us for these mistakes and shortcomings. If we do nothing, people will not forgive us. Therefore, only forward!” the head of state said.
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