MINSK, 17 February (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, while receiving the government's performance report for 2025, suggested a way to eliminate unjustified intermediation, BelTA has learned.
The head of state recalled that he had previously tasked Aleksandr Kosinets with working out proposals for eliminating unjustified intermediation. “He sent me the document a second time: to set up some kind of commission, a group... I look at this group. It includes all the ministers, all the governors. Is Kositsev creating a second government? Well, he could have asked for five specialists who understand something about this. That would have been understandable. Are governors supposed to travel to meetings at Kosinets’ behest?! I was wary the first time, and again the second. Why? Why would governor travel to Minsk for these meetings? Or will he gather them in Vitebsk and resolve the issue of intermediation?” the president remarked critically, posing a series of rhetorical questions.
“I categorically demand from you to refrain from importing things into the country without a permission of the appropriate minister,” the head of state said as he suggested an effective way to solve the problem. “If you want to import buses then apply to the minister for permission. You want to bring in fabrics, apply to the chairperson of the concern [Bellegprom] and ask for her permission. There's no need for these million-dollar systems. If she signs off on it, she will bear responsibility for a decision to import linen fabrics although we have our own linen mill.”
It is also necessary to strengthen the product quality requirements. When it comes, for example, to the Belarusian light industry, there are many high-quality products that are valued far beyond the country's borders. “When I travel abroad, I bring gifts like tablecloths and other items [from among traditional Belarusian products]. They love it! Everyone is delighted. But here we prefer Gucci and Versace. In this way we teach our people to love imported things, we advertise these Gucci and Versace brands,” the head of state remarked critically.
Furthermore, the president demanded that governors stop being distracted from their primary tasks in the regions and unreasonably summoned to various meetings, sessions, and so on. The same approach applies to the work of ministers. “Firstly, the ministers do not like to be distracted,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “Secondly, some think: 'So what, I'll go sit half a day at a meeting with the president, half a day with the prime minister, then half a day with Kochanova, half a day with Sergeyenko. Thus, they're gone for half the week. Why do you drag them to these meetings? Can we sort these things out, please? The prime minister called a meeting at the government and warned the ministers: 'Nowhere without my knowledge.'"
“It's been done that way,” the head of government Aleksandr Turchin said as he responded to the head of state's remarks.
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