Prospects near Moscow, land reclamation without showing off and pricing strategy. Main results of the President's week

ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO during a meeting with the Governor of the Moscow Region of RUSSIA Andrei Vorobyov Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting on improving the system of regulation of pricing and price control Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting on the development of the Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation and land reclamation Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting with the Governor of Moscow region of Russia Andrei Vorobyov Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting on improving the system of regulation of pricing and price control Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting on the development of the Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation and land reclamation Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting with the governor of the Moscow region of Russia Andrei Vorobyov 123 Topic news

The work schedule of the President of Belarus is always very eventful. Alexander Lukashenko holds meetings and working meetings on the most pressing issues of the country's development, regularly visits the regions, makes foreign visits and himself receives foreign guests, communicates with journalists, signs decrees and laws. And even when there are no public events, this does not mean at all that the HEAD of state is not working. However, even during rest, be it hockey training or chopping wood, Alexander Lukashenko will find a reason for another assignment. As he likes to say, everything must be based on life.

The "Week of the President" project is for those who want to keep up with the head of state, to be aware of the most current statements and decisions of the Belarusian leader.

What records is Belarus breaking in cooperation with the Moscow region and what was discussed during the governor’s first visit to MINSK .

How it was decided to strengthen the Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation and why Lukashenko is dissatisfied with the situation in land reclamation. About obvious inconsistencies, “temporary workers” and the strict instructions of the President.

Why Belarus still keeps the door open for residents of the Baltic countries and Poland. Details of the next visa-free extension.

Over the past year, has it been possible to keep prices in check and not expose the consumer market, for which Lukashenko praised the government and how pricing will be regulated from January 1.

All this and more in the new issue of BELTA’s special project “Week of the President”.

AREA OF PERSPECTIVES. What opportunities does Lukashenko see for deepening cooperation with the capital region of Russia?

Regular visits to Belarus by leaders of various regions of the Russian Federation will no longer surprise anyone. Almost every week, Alexander Lukashenko receives delegations led by Russian governors at the Palace of Independence and has repeatedly said that such regional cooperation once saved Belarusian-Russian relations as a whole.

This time, the head of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, came to Minsk. Interestingly, this is his first visit to Belarus as governor in more than 10 years in this post. But the main thing is that this did not affect the scale of cooperation. The head of the Russian region himself noted very close contacts with Belarusian leaders at various levels and the active work of the ambassador in Moscow. Largely thanks to this, Belarus, along with CHINA, is one of the two main partners of the Moscow region. Trade turnover this year is expected to exceed $10 billion, which will be the best figure in the entire history of cooperation.

For Belarus, the capital region of Russia is a strategic partner, the head of state emphasized. The Moscow region ranks first among the federal subjects in terms of trade volume. “These are colossal volumes of our foreign economic trade,” the President noted. Thus, over the 10 months of 2023, trade turnover increased by almost a quarter and exceeded $9 billion. “This is a significant achievement, taking into account the high base and significant growth last year (about 25%. - BELTA’s note),” assessed the Belarusian leader.

Trade takes place across almost the entire range of goods, the main ones being household appliances, food products ( butter , cheese), metal products, medicines, equipment, spare parts and much more. “This level of trade turnover is largely due to the specific situation of the Moscow region, which represents a kind of logistics hub and a base for further supplies to other Russian regions,” the President said.

A good foundation has been created, but Alexander Lukashenko suggested looking at the future. “Dealing and trade are good. But they are too dependent on the current situation,” the President noted. “The task of any leader is to create guarantees of employment and well-being for people. For these purposes, we need a serious foundation in the form of the production of our own products with high added value in joint ventures."

The President named a number of specific areas where there are prospects for development and strengthening of interaction. These include road construction and public utilities - this area is developing very actively in the region, and Belarus is ready to help with equipment and more.

The second proposal of the Belarusian side, outlined by the head of state, concerned the production of concrete: “I know that in your region it is planned to create a production of dry construction mixtures based on Belarusian cement. I propose not to limit ourselves to this and add the production of concrete.” The Ministry of Architecture and Construction of Belarus is ready, together with the Moscow region, to work out the logistics and possibilities for locating concrete mixing capacities.

The third direction is maintenance, supply of spare parts, warranty, financial instruments. “We have a lot of experience in Russia on these topics. But with the help of your region, we would like to gain a secure foothold by creating a serious service and logistics hub for this part of the Russian Federation,” explained the Belarusian leader.

Medical services and rehabilitation are the next area of ​​mutual interest for the two sides, which was announced by the President. “You have shown interest in this topic. You can count on us,” the Belarusian leader addressed the meeting participants. But we need to make sure that the cost of components, if we talk about medical equipment, and services is not beyond the means of ordinary people. The fact is that now in Russia the costs of certification of medical products are several times higher than, for example, within the EAEU . The Ambassador of Belarus to Russia Dmitry Krutoy has been tasked with working on this issue.

The development of cooperation ties and the creation of new production chains to replace imported products is the fifth direction that was discussed. “In this regard, we have accumulated good experience. We discuss these issues a lot, often with the President of the Russian Federation. And I would like to note with pleasure that, probably, we work best of all (in terms of developing import substitution. - BELTA note) with the Moscow region ", noted Alexander Lukashenko.

Cooperation in the agricultural sector is also among the promising areas of joint activity. You just need to decide on the most promising topics.

There is also significant potential for the participation of builders from Belarus in the implementation of projects in housing, social infrastructure and road construction. “Our enterprises are ready to offer not only construction services, but also equipment,” the Belarusian leader emphasized.

The head of state also noted the interest of the Belarusian side in developing cooperation in the field of scientific and technical activities. Moreover, the Moscow region has one of the largest scientific and technical complexes in Russia. “I think we could formulate a plan for scientific and technical cooperation, or, as it is fashionable to say, a road map for interaction between our National Academy of Sciences and the Moscow Region,” the President suggested.

And finally, the development of cultural and humanitarian ties, work with youth. All this is fundamentally no less important than trade and economic cooperation.

In conclusion, the head of state declared the Belarusian side’s readiness for an open, substantive dialogue on all the identified issues: “I want to assure you: if we agree on some issues, we will neither slow down nor retreat from these agreements.”

IMAGE PROJECT. What’s wrong at BNBK and how it was decided to strengthen the enterprise

One of the two main issues at the meeting with the President on December 19 was the activities of the Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation. The second topic is land reclamation, which we will discuss in detail here below. The participants of the meeting were members of the government, heads of government bodies, governors, and representatives of the scientific field. In this composition, the most pressing, very important issues of the strategic development of the state are traditionally brought up for consideration.

Touching upon the first item on the agenda, Alexander Lukashenko recalled that it has been a year since the grand opening of the unique large-scale BNBK production took place. “In our time, and even now, we are proud of this production. All conditions were created for the start of its work. And we agreed that we will support this project in every possible way,” he noted.

At the same time, according to the head of state, things at the enterprise are not exactly as planned: “The State Control Committee, which was tasked with seriously auditing the situation at BNBK, reports: there are significant shortcomings and problems in loading the plant’s capacity and marketing finished products. All this negatively affects the financial performance of BNBK (of course!)."

The President demanded that the government present a clear algorithm for eliminating all existing shortcomings and ensuring financial stability in the operation of the enterprise. He first of all asked how the production plans and EXPORT strategy were being implemented, and whether additional solutions were required for the balanced development of the corporation.

“I want you to understand: this is an image project, a very important technological project for our country. You know how much it cost not only me, but also the state,” said the Belarusian leader.

As a result, it was decided to strengthen the management of BNBK with a state representative, who will be entrusted with the function of monitoring the work of the enterprise. In other words, the state representative will be responsible for strategy, and the immediate head of the corporation will be responsible for tactics.

SHOWING WILL NOT WORK. What surprised Lukashenko in the report on land reclamation and who will be responsible for the failure of orders

A year ago, at a republican seminar-meeting on the restoration and use of reclamation lands, clear and understandable tasks were identified. However, the situation with the implementation of reclamation measures in certain areas is far from ideal. During the week, Alexander Lukashenko discussed in detail the shortcomings in this area, which became one of the main topics of the meeting at the Palace of Independence on December 19.

“We agreed on the need to triple the volume of reclamation activities from 2023 to 2025 in relation to the 2021 figure. As relevant Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Konstantinovich Zayats reports to me, they tripled this year. Tripled?” - the President clarified.

Leonid Zayats confirmed this information.

“They tripled. But what surprises me based on your writings: everything is broken, everything is broken, out of a hundred trenchers only one is working, and so on and so forth. We need to save land reclamation as an industry. But how did they increase it three times this year? What are you saying? Did you dig trenches with shovels? Or do you want to wishful thinking? It won’t work,” Alexander Lukashenko emphasized.

The head of state noted that he was concerned about the government’s work in some areas; certain fundamental instructions of the President remained unfulfilled. “Is this becoming government practice? This is unacceptable. It won’t work with me,” he warned.

About the substitution of concepts

Alexander Lukashenko recalled that the governors pledged to put 110 thousand hectares of land into agricultural use this year. Decisions at the level of the head of state on the financing of reclamation work and the purchase of equipment were made, moreover, in the middle of the year.

But the situation with the implementation of plans, as already noted, is far from ideal. To correct it, the government and regional executive committees are initiating a change in the structure of the work performed, concentrating resources on cultural and technical reclamation. To this, Alexander Lukashenko noted that cultural technology and land reclamation, although similar, are different things. In the first case, we are simply talking about putting agricultural land in order, for example, cutting down bushes. Therefore, the President is perplexed as to how land reclamation can be replaced by this type of work.

“It didn’t work out to dig and lay drains, save agricultural land in a serious way, you give me the initiative to translate all this into cultural and technical work. And tomorrow you will offer the money that was allocated for land reclamation to be transferred to cutting down bushes. So here is my decision: bushes, Roman Aleksandrovich (Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko - BELTA's note) you will cut down with an ax and shovels. This should be done by agricultural enterprises - cultural and technical measures. And we will carry out land reclamation as it should be according to science," the head of state emphasized.

Alexander Lukashenko

He noted that keeping reclamation canals clean and tidy, maintaining them on time so that every piece of land is in crop rotation is the sacred responsibility of the owner (reclamation system enterprises and agricultural organizations).

The President said that he was amazed at the attitude of responsible officials towards these issues, because in order to increase the export of agricultural products, additional lands are urgently needed, which can be put into circulation thanks to reclamation. “We have at least half a million hectares of land idle (even more) - what we have planned for land reclamation. We must save what can and should be saved today,” he noted.

About technology and design documentation

The Council of Ministers refers to the high degree of wear and tear of trenchers and the lack of design documentation for the entire area of ​​reconstruction of reclamation systems.

Alexander Lukashenko has his own clear argument for this: “What kind of problem is it to take old documentation? I’m not pushing you to develop new reclamation systems. And those that were developed in Soviet times need to be restored. That’s it, no need to get involved anymore forests and swamps! Restore these half a million hectares, then we will talk."

As for equipment, according to the government, there are 101 trenchers in the country, of which 99 are fully depreciated.

“Tell me honestly, did you sign what was handed to you, or did you calculate it yourself?” - the President clarified with the Prime Minister.

“Everyone, of course, was not checked,” replied Roman Golovchenko.

“So don’t sign what you haven’t checked. Call them and tell them how you can triple the volumes with the hundreds that are faulty. This is on the surface,” the head of state noted.

Alexander Lukashenko recalled that he had previously repeatedly set tasks for the restoration of agricultural machinery. As practice has shown, repairing cars costs two to three times less than buying new ones. When we are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars, the savings are significant.

“Everything must be restored and working!” the President demanded. “A year ago, I ordered an inventory of land reclamation equipment, to take all necessary measures for its restoration, repair and preservation. When will the result be?”

“If all these trenchers that should be registered there do not start working in April, they will all be jailed. I am publicly warning you,” the head of state set a task for the management of the KGC .

The head of state also has questions about the supply of new equipment. In January, the President was informed that, based on requests from reclamation organizations, a plan for the production of specialized equipment of the AMKODOR company and the creation of service centers for its warranty service had been approved. “Where is this?” asked Alexander Lukashenko. “You came and cried for AMKODOR: we need help, we need to allocate money. Where are we allocating money? There’s too much talk and not enough action!”

According to the head of state, of the 188 units of Amkodorov equipment planned for delivery in 2023, 64 - the third part - were delivered as of December 12. Multi-bucket trenchers from the same plan - only one of 14.

About the situation in land reclamation and temporary workers

The President asked the Prime Minister how he sees the state of affairs in the field of land reclamation. The head of state noted that he often gets acquainted with the pace of work on the ground from the air. According to Alexander Lukashenko, if everything is in order around his small homeland, in the Shklov region, then in other regions there are many problems.

“I already warned you. It kills me that you are doing window dressing. I fly all over the country and see where you work and where you don’t. This is where this reclamation was born, this is where I understand that these lands need to be saved. We need this to save and make a foundation for our children so that they understand how to work,” the Belarusian leader emphasized. “But you work like temporary workers.”

Roman Golovchenko said that he has a difficult impression of the state of affairs in this industry. He noted that over the past ten years, land reclamation has not received due attention, as a result of which the division in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food that oversaw these issues was disbanded, and regional land reclamation organizations found themselves floating freely. Now the government is resuscitating this entire system.

“The first thing we encountered was the strengthening of the material and technical base of organizations. In some places, everything was completely destroyed, that is, equipment under the fence. There was no scope of work, so people fled,” said the head of government.

"Who answered?" - asked the President.

According to the Prime Minister, about 100 officials were disciplined, 10 people were dismissed for discreditable reasons, and 13 criminal cases were initiated.

“You punished - you fired. And they are already working in private structures, earning three times more and laughing at you. Is this impossible?” - Alexander Lukashenko clarified.

“Perhaps,” agreed Roman Golovchenko.

“This is the style of your work. We made a decision here, but then what? These are called “temporary workers,” the President emphasized once again.

Alexander Lukashenko also inquired about the position of the State Control Committee. According to Vasily Gerasimov, the main problem remains registration, and this is typical for each region. “The worst thing is what you talked about and why criminal cases were opened: when land reclamation was done, but everything was overgrown again. That is, we simply buried the money. In this case, both we and the prosecutor’s office are taking the most stringent measures.” , - said the chairman of the State Control Committee.

NEIGHBORHOOD. How the President responded to the requests of foreign citizens and the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Alexander Lukashenko supported the proposal of the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to extend the visa-free entry regime in force with Lithuania, Latvia and Poland until 2024 . This became known on December 20.

From April 15, 2022, visa-free entry into Belarus was introduced for citizens of Lithuania and Latvia, as well as persons with the status of non-citizen of Latvia, and from July 1, 2022 - for citizens of Poland. In December 2022, the visa-free entry procedure for these citizens was extended until 2023.

The visa-free regime in 2022-2023 showed the steady interest of residents of neighboring countries in visiting the Republic of Belarus, despite the obstacles and restrictions from the leadership of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.

The introduction of a visa-free regime makes it possible to demonstrate the openness of the Republic of Belarus to the restoration of normal equal interaction with neighboring states, maintain ties with the Belarusian national minority, and overcome the information blockade from the political elites of neighboring countries through interpersonal communications.

The head of the main consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Kozhan, told reporters that since the beginning of the implementation of this initiative, the total number of those who visited Belarus using the visa-free regime is already approaching 800 thousand. “This year alone we received about 405 thousand residents neighboring countries also on a visa-free basis. Moreover, this despite all the obstacles that exist at the border, taking into account the closed border crossings (on the part of Belarus's western neighbors - BELTA's note) and the artificial containment of queues. There was, is and remains an interest." , - he said.

Since September, the Belarusian authorities began to receive messages from diasporas and ordinary citizens living in neighboring countries with a request to extend the visa-free regime for entry into the country. “We did not leave such letters and appeals unnoticed and drew up our appeal on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the head of state with a request to extend this wonderful undertaking until 2024. Our initiative was supported,” added the head of the main consular department.

A MATTER OF FAIRNESS. Have Belarus managed to keep prices down and what will happen next?

On December 21, Alexander Lukashenko held a meeting on improving the system of regulation of pricing and price control. The event is planned, and the President has previously spoken of his intention to discuss in detail how things stand in this matter.

The President emphasized that when the government was instructed to deal with this problem more than a year ago, there was no talk of freezing or even curbing prices. “It was about regulating pricing. In some places they were holding back. In some places prices were rising. You can’t fool the economy,” the Belarusian leader noted. “We understand perfectly well that if you freeze the price where it cannot be frozen, tomorrow the goods will disappear, no one in a loss won’t work. That’s what we proceeded from.”

At the beginning of the meeting, Alexander Lukashenko immediately set the main guideline: “I want you to understand that there will be no retreat either to the left or to the right from this problem. This is a moral, political, strategic issue. Whatever you want to call it. But the main thing is a question of justice.” .

Alexander Lukashenko explained that it would be one thing if the money from rising prices, for example for MILK , went as an increase in the salaries of milkmaids. But they were put into their pockets not even by sales workers, but by “certain owners,” receiving at least $35 thousand a month.

“To some extent, we managed to put this horse in the pen, as people say. But since this is a question of justice (and the Slavs, including us, have always had a demand for justice), we cannot avoid this issue. This the number one question for our people. And there is no populism here. No populism before the election campaign. We addressed this issue constantly. But since it was not resolved, a strong-willed decision was made," said Alexander Lukashenko.

And at the next meeting on pricing issues, the task was to see how this process was developing.

About a clear and understandable system from January 1

“There is only one goal, which I warned the government about - no manufacturers, businessmen, trade and others who are engaged in services should run to MART, ministries or the government. They should not run there to negotiate prices. From January 1 there should be a clear , an understandable system,” said the Belarusian leader. The President instructed to return to this issue once again in the government and emphasized that the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade should not be involved in the coordination of all these prices. “Listen, how many people will need to be kept in MARCH so that they can see and agree on all this? Go back to this problem in the government and assign tasks to everyone. From controllers, deputies to the prime minister. If you need to involve me, please. But the question must be resolved," he demanded.

Following the meeting, First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov confirmed to journalists that such a system would really start working in the new year. It was difficult even purely methodologically to start creating it a year ago. “But initially the demand was that the system work. Economic laws exist and will exist, and they cannot be ignored. This is fraught,” he said. “Therefore, a system will be built that is minimally connected with agreeing prices with someone. It will be determined percentage threshold within which any enterprise can set prices for the domestic consumer market. This does not apply to intermediate, investment goods. And this certainly does not apply to exports. You can send for export at any price and there compensate for the lost profit in the domestic market. We, “In principle, we are ready for such a system, and it will be implemented from January 1, as instructed by the President.”

At the same time, Nikolai Snopkov especially emphasized that it is not entirely correct to talk about lost profits on the domestic market: “The domestic market is sacred. Citizens of Belarus have different incomes and citizens of those countries where our products are exported. There are different social burdens. This It’s simply a sacred duty to ensure saturation of the domestic market.”

Answering the question whether restrictions on trade markups for retail chains will continue to apply, Nikolai Snopkov said: “Of course. There are no other options. The experience and practice of 2023 show that we have found this balance between fair price formation in chains and the break-even nature of chains ".

On reducing inflation

The head of state stated that in Belarus, including as a result of measures taken to regulate pricing, inflation has decreased significantly this year . At the same time, skeptics previously argued that such measures could lead to a number of players leaving the market, but the situation is absolutely normal. “Our inflation is probably 5-6%. We agreed that we would invest in 6%, but no more than 7%. But it was 19%. And everyone said: it’s impossible. They wrote that people would leave, there would be no one to trade. There is We have someone to trade with. And if someone doesn’t want to live like a human being in Belarus, the road is open both there and back,” the Belarusian leader emphasized.

The President stated that the initial fears of individuals during the introduction of state regulation were not confirmed and this is proven by economic indicators. “Nothing happened, we are working normally,” the head of state emphasized.

As First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov reported, annual inflation, as of December 1, amounted to 5.4%. This is almost three times lower than the increase in the consumer price index that formed in October 2022 - at the time when the President set the task of ensuring a reasonable price level and made appropriate decisions at the state level. “I’ll emphasize: not freezing, but ensuring a reasonable price level,” said Nikolai Snopkov.

The First Deputy Prime Minister explained the increase in inflation by three main factors. The first is the conscious decisions of government agencies on sectoral price regulation, which together determined 2.1 percentage points in the overall inflation rate. This is, for example, an increase in prices and tariffs for excisable goods (tobacco,ALCOHOL ), housing and communal services, passenger rail transport, higher and preschool education services.

The second factor is the rise in prices for imported goods, mainly from third countries, against the backdrop of exchange rate fluctuations. Their contribution to inflation was 1.5%. “This is imported inflation,” explained Nikolai Snopkov.

The third factor that influenced inflation in the country was the decisions of government agencies to increase prices within the framework of Resolution No. 713 of October 19, 2022 “On the price regulation system.” In total, there were 763 decisions to increase prices and 1,350 to set prices for new goods. They contributed about 1% to inflation. At the same time, milk, MEAT , and clothing increased in price the most . But the price of cereals, pasta, and synthetic detergents has decreased (about 5%). Currently, the government notes a moderate increase in prices for most goods. This is mainly a seasonal increase in prices for vegetables and imported fruits . For the year as a whole, inflation is estimated to be 5.4-5.6%.

About the situation in the consumer market

Nikolai Snopkov stated at the meeting that following the results of 11 months of 2023, retail trade turnover increased by 8.2% compared to the same period last year. “That is, people began to go to stores more and buy more. This is the main result,” he noted about the announced figures, the head of state.

At the same time, profits from sales of products in trade fell, which, however, did not come as a surprise to the government, but was quite expected and predictable. “It couldn’t be otherwise, since we controlled the allowances,” explained Nikolai Snopkov.

At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that out of 714 trade organizations recorded by Belstat, only 137 turned out to be unprofitable over the 10 months of this year, and 105 of them generated their losses from current activities. “The majority of trading enterprises demonstrate financial stability, despite the fact that we have reduced premiums,” the First Deputy Prime Minister emphasized. “The use of the regulatory system has reduced profitability, but allows them to function normally.”

Nikolai Snopkov also drew attention to the fact that in Belarus the prices for most goods have been lower than in Russia for several years now. “This, of course, is a certain danger,” the President noted. “People must understand that if we keep prices even lower, but in Russia they rise, the goods will go away. We have been through this.”

“Yes, he will leave immediately,” agreed Nikolai Snopkov. “That’s why we are trying to balance here.”

“The consumer market is characterized by stability, the range of goods is maintained, and there are no prerequisites for a shortage of any goods,” the First Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

The President warned in this regard that one cannot calm down. Nikolai Snopkov assured that he keeps the situation under daily control.

About "gaskets" in the drug market

As already noted, one of the factors for rising prices in Belarus is imported inflation. For example, imported medicines and fruits rose in price by almost 12%, international passenger rail transportation - by 23%, travel services - by 22%. However, the President in this regard demanded to further understand the justification for the rise in prices for fruits and, in particular, for medicines . “What are we afraid of? Some private owner will leave the pharmacy? Let him go! We have enough state pharmacies that will deal with it. And in general, the Ministry of HEALTH needs to deal with this,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

Alexander Lukashenko

The head of state once again drew attention to the need to eliminate unjustified intermediation in this area in order to create fair prices for medicines. “I’ll tell you how the prices for imported medicines work out, and you’ll see how many “fillers” there are, as I say, sons, close relatives and mistresses,” the President said, addressing Nikolai Snopkov. By the way, if you look at the change in the cost of domestic medicines, where there are no intermediaries, then the price increase there was only 2.2%.

About the cucumber issue and more

Speaking about pricing and inflation, Alexander Lukashenko could not ignore the rise in prices for domestic vegetables, in particular cucumbers and tomatoes .

Back in the spring, the head of state instructed to solve the problem of growing fruits and vegetables in the off-season. In particular, the President proposed building more greenhouses so that Belarusians could be provided with their vegetables throughout the year. However, the government decided to try to cope with this task with the least investment. According to Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Zayets, the return was good - there are sufficient quantities of domestic products on the shelves. Compared to December 2022, cucumber prices decreased by approximately 16.5%.

However, Alexander Lukashenko drew attention to the seasonal increase in prices for vegetables. He noted that people are concerned about today's prices in stores, not last year's. As statistics show, the measures taken were not enough. “Produce these cucumbers in sufficient quantities. People want them to be cheaper on New Year’s Day ,” demanded the President. “I told you: “Build 10 more greenhouses” - “We will illuminate!” So ​​shine!”

As the Chairman of the National Statistics Committee Inna Medvedeva reported, in December prices for the same cucumbers increased by almost 66% compared to November. The situation is similar for cabbage, onions, beets, carrots and tomatoes.

“We’ll light it up and the cucumbers will grow on their own!” - Alexander Lukashenko said sarcastically, returning to the government’s promises. - Think about what to do. Why am I asking the question? 10-15 years ago I would not have said that: it was expensive - both gas andoil . But now there’s enough of everything.”

“Of course, there is something to work with, and we know this problem,” responded First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov.

“We need to move. At least where we can,” demanded the head of state. “Keep in mind, this is our beginning in pricing, our first steps. Everything will depend on production, on volumes. We need to increase production, especially where we Can".

About the situation in the economy and the sanity of Belarusians

Speaking about the measures taken to regulate prices, the President advised not to worry too much about the decrease in the profitability of a small number of trading enterprises: “As for their profits, don’t worry about profits in trade. Well, they paid a little less in taxes to the budget. But, I think we’re managing the budget?”

“More than,” answered Nikolai Snopkov.

“There’s no need to talk about this as ‘more than’. Well done. Where it’s good, it’s good. Otherwise our poor fugitives will grab hold of them and start crying that they don’t have money, but here they have money,” Alexander Lukashenko said with a bit of humor .

As Nikolay Snopkov reported, consumer activity of the population remains at a high level. “The economic policy of our state has made it possible to ensure real wage growth of more than 10% (adjusted for inflation),” the First Deputy Prime Minister noted. “The growth of consumer lending has increased by one and a half times. The growth of real estate lending has increased by 60%. Net sales of foreign currency by the population amounted to $400 million." As a result, sales volumes in the country have recovered after falling last year. And above all - durable goods.

Along with high consumer activity, there is also an increase in household deposits in banks, mainly in rubles. Since the beginning of the year, they amounted to almost Br2.7 billion (an increase of 25%). "Conclusion: the population's inflation expectations are at a low level. There is trust in the authorities, which we see primarily in the banking system, and trust in monetary policy. At the same time, the purchasing power of the population is one of the highest in recent years,” said the First Deputy Prime Minister.

He noted that compared to 2016, the average nominal wage can buy 60% more pork, 60% more poultry, 1.4 times more milk, and 10% more potatoes.

In a conversation with journalists, the First Deputy Prime Minister assessed the results of the outgoing year in the economy as good: “They are dictated by the fact that this year we raised wages quite actively, pensions, stimulated consumer lending and real estate lending.”

Nikolai Snopkov also drew attention to the common sense and rational behavior of Belarusian citizens in the market this year: “It is associated with both consumption and savings, which clearly emphasizes the trust of Belarusians in the ongoing economic policy and trust in the authorities. And we hope that we will not let you down them in the future."

About the problem with the voice and questions for Karanik

In general, the meeting lasted about 3 hours and in terms of thematic coverage, taking into account the presence of governors, government members and senior officials, it turned out to be comprehensive. For example, we seriously discussed the work of the Belkoopsoyuz, the topic of providing people in small towns and rural areas with everything they need. Alexander Lukashenko also heard information on a variety of areas, including issues of the agro-industrial complex. Wintering in livestock farming, feed supply, mortality situation - these and other topics are constantly under the President’s control.

In this regard, it is especially worth noting that the head of state held a long meeting despite noticeable problems with his voice. “We’ll have to carry it out in a whisper,” Alexander Lukashenko said at the beginning, explaining that there was no way to move or postpone the event. And at the end of the meeting, Alexander Lukashenko said that all questions in connection with the state of his voice should be addressed to Vladimir Karanik, the governor of the Grodno region and a physician by training.

Journalists asked the governor himself about this topic. Vladimir Karanik explained that at the previous meeting this week, he, as a physician, gave the head of state certain recommendations, having already noticed some problems with his voice.

“Given that today there are still certain problems with the voice, it was said that all the questions are for me, that the recommendations do not work. In fact, the President is, from the point of view of doctors, a very inconvenient patient. impossible. Just lie down for a couple of days,” said Vladimir Karanik. “The main recommendation was two days ago - voice rest. But the President did not take care of himself. We see the result - this voice. A very large volume of meetings, meetings, flights. A lot of work has accumulated. How he retains his voice in this mode is amazing to me."

“I can say that I assess the general condition of the President as very good. But his voice will recover over time,” added Vladimir Karanik.