MINSK, 25 April (BelTA) – During a government conference dedicated to the development of areas affected by the catastrophe at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made several critical remarks concerning work in the country’s eastern regions. Conclusions were also prompted by recent working trips of the head of state, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “We have plenty of problems in the west but not as many as in the east. The state of affairs is unacceptable. I’ve just been to Vitebsk Oblast. Wherever I went, I gave instructions: let’s seriously check things after my trip. A bunch of issues.”
As an example he mentioned the visit to a cheese-making shop in the town of Kopys: “It was built 10-15 years ago. A good enterprise. And the equipment is modern. Feel free to take milk, process it, and sell cheese. Cheese sells extremely well in Russia, for example. But they lie to my face. I wonder how much the enterprise can process. I am told: 200 tonnes. But it processes 60. Nothing like that! Fraudulent schemes were employed. Instead of processing 60 tonnes per day, they processed two tonnes. The rest of the incoming milk was resold to make profits. What do you call it? Well, we will find out soon.”
Complaints were also prompted by large loss of cattle figures. “They started looking into loss of cattle. It is terrible. I cannot even talk about it publicly. Doesn’t [Chairman of the Gomel Oblast Executive Committee] Ivan Ivanovich Krupko, who is a former minister, have such problems? More often than not. And they tell me not to worry because the loss of cattle figures will be straightened out by the middle of the year,” Aleksandr Lukashenko shared the details. “Listen, I am a countryside man. I have worked in agriculture. I cannot understand how anyone can straighten out a dead calf. I don’t understand how these figures will be straightened out. Ivan Ivanovich [Krupko, Chairman of the Gomel Oblast Executive Committee], I don’t need figures. I need live cattle. Because a calf is a future cow or a future bull, which will be fattened. It will produce milk and beef.”
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