Lukashenko: customs plays crucial role in ensuring security of state and citizens

President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko has been reported today by the Chairman of the State Customs Committee, Vladimir Orlovsky

The Head of State primarily asked about the situation at the border from the point of view of customs authorities. The President noted that, in comparison with the times when he served at the border, Belarusian customs and border guards are now serving in completely different conditions, but the volume of work they perform has increased significantly – ‘especially, after the problems with the West emerged’, “After all, we have reoriented our economy to the East. What is the current situation in connection with the reorientation of commodity flows to the East? How does the customs work? I know that you are doing a lot to help our enterprises and residents in organising trade. What is the situation with the transit of our cargoes? How is customs involved in this assistance for our enterprises in general?”

Another issue tackled by the President concerned the situation with payments. “How is the country's budget being replenished through the customs authorities against the practice of previous years?” Aleksandr Lukashenko wondered.

Security was also in focus of today’s meeting, and the Head of State stressed in that regard, “Customs plays a crucial role in ensuring the security of the state and our citizens.”

The Belarusian leader asked how the work on countering smuggling is going, as well as what the situation on the Ukrainian border is. The situation on the western borders was also discussed.

“Looking at the madness of our neighbours in the West who closed the customs checkpoints for our goods (there were 26 of them, but we have five operational at present)… Naturally, this could be neglected, we could say that we no longer trade with the West, since sanctions [against Belarus] were imposed,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “But we are a transit country, and this assessment is important for us. How can the southern and western borders be compared in this sense?”

The Head of State asked Vladimir Orlovsky to share his opinion on the developing situation and his vision of this issue for the future.

A number of other issues, including personnel-related ones, were also discussed at the meeting.

photos: www.president.gov.by