Belarus’ PM: highly qualified specialists are important for development of biotechnology industry

Today, Belarus’ Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko has visited the Institute of Microbiology at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to get acquainted with the achievements of scientists in the field of microbiology

The Head of Government noted that for the successful development of the biotechnology industry in the country it is important to have a sufficient number of trained specialists.

“There are few states that can afford it. Belarus is among them,” Mr. Golovchenko emphasised. “And now we are putting a special emphasis on training such specialists, because we have our own scientific schools. Only three major scientific schools are based at NAS’ Institute of Microbiology. And if we seriously raise the issue of developing this area, we must train the right number of highly-qualified specialists who are able to work with modern equipment and deal with deep and serious technologies. This is why today we pay special attention to this issue.”

The PM also reminded that Belarus had recently decided to create a super-modern training laboratory on protein biology on the BSU premises.

“I hope this project will be a serious contribution to the educational environment and to the training of highly qualified specialists for the country’s biotechnology industry,” the Head of Government noted.

During the visit, over 30 key achievements of the NAS’ Institute of Microbiology have been demonstrated to the PM. These include several dozens of drugs relevant to the country’s agriculture, e.g., a biological preparation for the treatment of winter wheat seeds and vegetative plants, which increases stress resistance and crop yield by almost a third. It is also a microbial fertiliser based on salt-tolerant nitrogen-fixing and phosphate-solubilising bacteria, designed to minimise the negative impact of anti-icing chemicals on urban plantings. Farm animals have not been left either. Thus, a probiotic bacterial preparation is intended for them, which helps prevent and reduce the incidence of acute postpartum endometritis in cows in about 50 percent of cases, as well as reduce the duration of the disease.

Another ten or so preparations are unique means of cleaning water and soil from contaminants.