Lukashenko criticised the work of Gomel Region’s agricultural sector
At a meeting with representatives of the Gomel Region in Vetka, the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, dwelled in detail on the analysis of the socio-economic situation in the region
He noted that the results of Q1 2023 are far from what the regional authorities had promised, “In terms of economic development, the region is ranked fourth. Although the industry worked well (the growth of 4.5 percent against the republic’s growth of about 2 percent), but this is largely due to the contribution of organisations of the republican form of ownership (which account for 80 percent in your industry). How are things going on in your area of responsibility: agriculture? The pace falls short to meet 100 percent, resulting in the last place countrywide.”
This topic has already been partially discussed on the field of the Agro-Vetka agricultural branch of Vetkovsky Agroservice JSC. The Head of State was informed on the progress of spring field works, land reclamation activities, and restoration of depreciated equipment.
However, Aleksandr Lukashenko urged to talk about something else, “It seems to be not bad here yet, but don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched. Last November, we had a rather substantive, sometimes even tough meeting on the development strategy of the agro-industrial complex in our region. We set the accents, agreed on approaches, and received assurances from the leaders that we would work hard, with full dedication. As I have already said, the latest aspect isn’t felt much. What has been done so far? What issues hinder the implementation of our agreements? We are trying to solve many problems by consolidating or joining powerful industrial enterprises. What is the effect of this? You should see it now. What about other industries? How do you take them out? There is a problem. It’s good that you are uniting farms, making them larger, some dairy complexes, and equipping others with new equipment. However, if you add a beggar to a beggar, you know that they will remain beggars.”
The President noted that while flying around the Gomel Region in a helicopter today, he carefully looked at what was being done on the farms, in the fields, all construction sites, facilities, and roads. The disadvantages are obvious, “There’s uncut straw, areas overgrown with grass. There’re plenty of ownerless and unused buildings and constructions. There is no proper order yet. And the most dangerous thing is that it is not expected this year. As I am informed, it was not possible to eradicate falsification of figures and death of livestock. For example, the cases doubled in the Yelsk District while they almost doubled in the Dobrush and Lelchitsy districts. For three months of this year, almost four thousand calves under the age of six months died in the region. How much longer do we have to teach personnel, help them so that they master the basics? There is no need to teach here. Everyone knows how to do it, but for some reason it is not done.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko continued the topic of Lelchitsy, “I instructed to thoroughly examine each facility and project in the Lelchitsy industrial park, some of which also affect neighbouring areas. We talk a lot, consult, meetings are held in the Government. But sometimes things don’t go beyond words. Or is it an unpromising direction, not a point of growth? I will listen to your suggestions on this issue.”
