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"On Point"
MINSK, 4 July (BelTA) – In the latest episode of the V Teme [On Point] project on BelTA's YouTube channel, Doctor of Historical Sciences Nikolai Platoshkin shared his thoughts on competition with the European Union, the importance of subsidies for enterprises, and the development of air travel.
Nikolai Platoshkin weighed in on the opinion that emerging macrozones need a population of 300-400 million to be self-sufficient: “What is the richest country in Europe? Luxembourg. I cannot say that it is a large country. It is approximately the size of Ramensky District of Moscow Oblast, but their per capita gross domestic product is €150,000 per year. And this is probably eight times bigger than ours. It was like a steel boutique. We made mass-produced steel, while they made filigree steel with some kind of, for example, plastic coating.”
“We can meet the needs of not only our own market. Lukashenko made a point about it. We can do other things too. Africa, Iran, Nicaragua. I took part in trial grain deliveries to Nicaragua back in 2010. They had never accepted it before. There is also a brilliant idea suggested by the Cubans; we are also actively promoting it. Cuba is a transport hub. Why do we all fly from the CIS to Latin America via Miami? Today they let us in, tomorrow they will not. We just need to expand the airport in Cuba, and then we won't need Miami. We don't need visas. The same with Nicaragua. They have an excellent runway that we built back in the 1980s. We just need to improve it, build terminals,” the expert said.
Nikolai Platoshkin believes that the construction of a grain processing plant in Cuba to supply flour to other countries is a good idea: “All this can be done. And this will help both Belarus and us.” He noted that he was shocked to learn that Altai Territory, which is considered the breadbasket of the Russian Federation, uses Swiss equipment to make flour. “What does it take to make flour? This is not rocket science. We can do this. Why should we sell only grain? We can sell products with higher added value. Otherwise, Italians will keep making pasta from Kazakh grain and selling it to us. Can’t we figure out how to make pasta? There is nothing complicated about it,” the expert emphasized.
According to Nikolai Platoshkin, the production of rapeseed oil holds a lot of promise, because in the future it can replace gasoline. “We both have a perfect climate to produce rapeseed. It is neither too hot, nor too cold here. That's just it. Lukashenko also talked about flax,” Nikolai Platoshkin noted. He added that Kostroma, Smolensk and Tver were the leading producers of this crop. “It's painful to hear that France ranks first in the production of flax, which was used to be called ‘Russian silk’. We also need to create a special program to promote flax production. Yes, the government needs to subsidize this industry. France does. Without it, nothing would grow there. The European Union fully subsidizes sugar production. Otherwise, it would be completely uncompetitive. But if they play football with their hands and feet, and we only play with our feet, who will win? We need to play by their rules and also support our producers,” he said.
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