Showcase for the best brands from Minsk and Belarusian regions

On the eve of the New Year, the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko,
visited the First National Trading House shopping centre

This is a unique trading platform where the best products from every region of the country are presented. 133 branded stores of domestic manufacturers, cafes and restaurants, and household facilities are located on three floors. On the ground floor there are stores of organisations in the city of Minsk, on the first floor — Vitebsk, Minsk and Mogilev Regions, on the second — Brest, Grodno and Gomel Regions.
The Head of State himself suggested making a large-scale showcase for Belarusian brands: in July 2022, during a visit to the Stolitsa shopping centre, the President was instructed to set up a Belarusian shopping centre on the site of the long-term construction project at the intersection of Nezavisimosti Avenue and Kirill Turovsky Street. Previously, this facility was called Minsk’s Magnit, and its construction was launched back in 2009, but the work was never completed.
“Belarusian, Belarusian and again Belarusian. No one from foreigners will reproach us. They have left, that’s OK. We will sell ours. We need to build our policy so that the priority is given to Belarus-made goods,” Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke then about the main semantic content of the creation of a shopping centre.
And on the last Friday of 2023, Aleksandr Lukashenko personally came to evaluate the finished object and the result, 

“I was concerned that our regions would be represented here. So that they don’t cry that they are not allowed into Minsk, it is impossible to sell the goods... Sell them. But I would like this to be the beginning. We need to carry out such construction not only in Belarus, but also in Russia. In St. Petersburg, why not build such a building and deliver goods. In Moscow, Smolensk, Bryansk, Pskov... Very close. And people respond well to Belarusian.”

Upon arrival at the shopping centre, the President was greeted not only by officials and journalists, but also by Father Frost and the Snow Maiden — after all, it was a pre-New Year’s event.
Nevertheless, the Head of State put everyone in a working mood by hearing a report on the construction of a facility that had been on the list of long-term construction projects for years. Initially, a shopping and entertainment centre was supposed to be built on this site, more than 10 years ago, which was carried out by an Iranian company. 
“It was actually an abandoned facility. It was ordered to build both a shopping centre and rental housing for the military [on the floors above the shopping centre]. Everything was done as planned,” the Belarusian leader said.


The construction of the facility was completed in a short time, and Aleksandr Lukashenko drew attention to some shortcomings in the interior. He instructed to approach this issue in a businesslike manner, without spending ‘mad amounts of money’.
The Head of State called on Belarusian producers to work more actively in the domestic market, “If you want to conquer your market and not give it to anyone, then, naturally, you need to have your own stores in Belarus. We will return to this later. We have already talked about this using the example of our light industry.”
As the Chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee Vladimir Kukharev reported, an underground pedestrian crossing was built next to the shopping centre. “We were the first in the country to build without an open method (we did not excavate the avenue). We did it using the tunnel method. Metrostroy made this tunnel. Now we have already developed technologies. We can continue to build without stopping traffic,” he said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko positively assessed this approach, instructing that underground passages be done this way throughout the country in the future.
The President got acquainted with the branded stores and catering facilities of leading Belarusian manufacturers, “This is a unifying idea. We must go this way.”


The first store the Head of State visited was the Pinskdrev furniture showroom. By the way, the company has almost one and a half hundred stores throughout the republic and about 100 more in Russia. There, Pinskdrev built its own distribution network. Aleksandr Lukashenko sets this format of work as an example for other manufacturers.
Speaking about the production of furniture, the Head of State emphasised: fabrics and accessories must be Belarusian.
“I’m interested in having our own. Fabrics, leather, wood — these are ours. We can do this. If we can, why not produce?” he said.
The President visited a bed linen store from the Blakit company, a Belarusian porcelain store, a jewellery salon of the famous Gomel enterprise Kristall, and a food store in the Gomel Region. Here the Head of State tasted the products of regional enterprises.


At the Neman glass factory store, Aleksandr Lukashenko was informed about the work of the enterprise. According to management, there are now a lot of orders, and products are not delayed in the warehouse.
“If your production is as you say, then thank you for saving the plant,” the President said.
At the same time, he recalled that at one time the plant had to be saved in order to maintain production and competence. Gomel's Kristall was once in a similar situation.
The Chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee reported to the Head of State about the presence on the premises of the trading house of a multifunctional centre for carrying out administrative procedures, including a ‘one window’ service, a settlement and reference centre of the administration of the Pervomaisky District of Minsk, a branch of the Minsk City Agency for State Registration and Land Cadastre, department on citizenship and migration of the main department of internal affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee.

The Chairman of the Supreme State Council, the President of the Republic of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, signed a decree approving the Union State budget for 2024 — as reported by the Union State Standing Committee with reference to State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev.

The State Secretary of Belarus-Russia Union State also noted that the budget was agreed upon by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It’s significant that we’ll start the new year with a fundamental financial document, which means that financing of the Union State programmes for the next year will begin on time. The Standing Committee will ensure the execution of the Union State budget in full and considers this an absolute priority for itself,” Dmitry Mezentsev commented on the document.
According to him, the contribution of Belarus and Russia to the Union State budget has been increased by 38 percent for the first time, ensuring an expansion in the number of the Union State programmes, projects and activities.
“It’s important that next year not only will their number expand in the areas of high technology, defence and security, but the number of events in the cultural, humanitarian, educational and civil-patriotic spheres has increased by almost a third. We see this as a response to people’s requests, in support of the parties’ position on expanding the scale of economic integration, strengthening interregional and inter-parliamentary co-operation,” the State Secretary of the Union State emphasised.

During his visit to the First National Trading House shopping centre, the President of Belarus left an autograph with chocolate in the Kommunarka brand store, the Pul Pervogo Telegram channel reported.

Aleksandr Lukashenko signed a sweet ‘painting’, depicting the Rumyantsev-Paskevich Palace, the Brest Fortress, the Mir and Nesvizh castles, and the Buinichi Field. The Telegram channel underlined that it was the first time the President of Belarus left an autograph with chocolate.
In addition, the Head of State was shown a heart made of meat products, sausage and ham, from Vitebsk’s Ganna enterprise — The Dream Valentine — noted the Telegram channel.


Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by

Photos by belta and pul pervogo Telegram channel