MINSK, 30 December (BelTA) - Simplicity and functionality should be at the heart of metro construction, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he attended a ceremony to launch the new section of the third line of Minsk metro on 30 December, BelTA learned.
“In the run-up to the New Year we always give our people some kind of gift. The better it is, the richer it looks, the more satisfied our people are. I have come to congratulate our people, especially Minsk citizens and guests of the capital city, on my own behalf but also on yours,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. ”I want to tell you right away not to get a big head. I told the mayor of Minsk and the leadership of your company: do it right, without any frills. There is no need to have palaces underground. It is better to make simpler stations but build more of them,” the head of state said.
“But as I said to the mayor of Minsk and the company, we are building not badly, but slowly,” the head of state said. He expects that with the arrival of a new tunneling machine for metro construction workers, the pace will double.
Aleksandr Lukashenko wished a Happy New Year to the metro workers and metro construction workers present at the ceremony and wished good health to them, their families, especially children, and friends.
Aleksei Shilov and Vasili Kosovets, heads of Minsk metro and Minskmetrostroy company respectively, thanked Aleksandr Lukashenko for his long-term support of the metro development. “We, metro workers, will do everything for the comfort and safety of our passengers,” the Minsk metro director assured.
Metro veteran Ivan Ovsyanik, the first driver of the Minsk metro, also spoke at the ceremony. On behalf of the staff, he handed the head of state a memorable gift - a book, published to mark the 40th anniversary of the Minsk metro.
“He does not look like a veteran. He himself can still perfectly drive such beautiful and powerful trains,” Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that currently the metro transports about a third of Minsk’s population (more than 700,000 passengers] per day. “We should strive for half. Minsk should be a good, accessible, beautiful city, a true capital of our country. Everyone is amazed, by, as they tell me, cleanliness of our metro. It should be so. The metro is the calling card of the capital, its face. That's why it should be kept clean and tidy.”
“But as I said to the mayor of Minsk and the company, we are building not badly, but slowly,” the head of state said. He expects that with the arrival of a new tunneling machine for metro construction workers, the pace will double.
Aleksandr Lukashenko wished a Happy New Year to the metro workers and metro construction workers present at the ceremony and wished good health to them, their families, especially children, and friends.
Aleksei Shilov and Vasili Kosovets, heads of Minsk metro and Minskmetrostroy company respectively, thanked Aleksandr Lukashenko for his long-term support of the metro development. “We, metro workers, will do everything for the comfort and safety of our passengers,” the Minsk metro director assured.
Metro veteran Ivan Ovsyanik, the first driver of the Minsk metro, also spoke at the ceremony. On behalf of the staff, he handed the head of state a memorable gift - a book, published to mark the 40th anniversary of the Minsk metro.
“He does not look like a veteran. He himself can still perfectly drive such beautiful and powerful trains,” Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked.
Follow us on:
