MOGILEV, 16 September (BelTA) – It is important to commission new significant industrial and social facilities ahead of the Day of National Unity so that people remember and understand the true meaning of this holiday, Head of the Belarus President Administration Dmitry Krutoi told the media at a ceremony to unveil a relief road of Yakubovskogo Street in Mogilev, BelTA has learned.
According to him, the president, a historian by training, noted that the reunification of Belarus within its current borders in 1939 significantly improved all the country's development indicators within a year. "It was the result of the nation's uplift, which led to significant economic growth: every sector expanded by two or three times," he said. "During the year, a huge number of social and industrial facilities were built, because Poland's policy towards the Eastern Borderlands or 'kresy wschodnie', as we were officially called, meant total colonization: closure of Belarusian schools and industrial enterprises. We were actually destined to play the role of an agricultural region, an agricultural appendage."
According to him, the president, a historian by training, noted that the reunification of Belarus within its current borders in 1939 significantly improved all the country's development indicators within a year. "It was the result of the nation's uplift, which led to significant economic growth: every sector expanded by two or three times," he said. "During the year, a huge number of social and industrial facilities were built, because Poland's policy towards the Eastern Borderlands or 'kresy wschodnie', as we were officially called, meant total colonization: closure of Belarusian schools and industrial enterprises. We were actually destined to play the role of an agricultural region, an agricultural appendage."
Dmitry Krutoi recalled that the veterans of the Polish Army received land in these territories, while Belarusian peasants, the major population group in the region, were absolutely oppressed. Practically all industrial enterprises were closed. Only two large manufactures were in operation: a match factory in Pinsk and a plywood factory in Grodno.
"That was all that remained after 18 years of the occupation," he summarized. "When the country was reunited, industry and agriculture began to develop very rapidly. The president says that this matter should always be highlighted. Why is it important to open new industrial and social facilities to mark this date? So that people remember and understand the true meaning of this holiday."