‘We can do everything’

Belarus has developed enough scientific and technical solutions not only for defence and security, but also for peaceful purposes — as noted by the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, as he visited the Intellectual Belarus exhibition

“We once agreed with the head of the Academy that we should show what we can do. There are about five hundred of the latest developments…” the Head of State recalled the background of the decision to hold the exhibition. 
The Head of State was particularly interested in developments in the field of artificial intelligence. Scientists assure that Belarus has already reached the world level in this area. Aleksandr Lukashenko discussed this topic earlier during his meetings with foreign partners, including partners from the United Arab Emirates, a country where artificial intelligence is one of key areas of focus. In this regard, he recalled the Northern Waterfront project to build an experimental multifunctional complex in Minsk. 
“Why did I fall for this: not only because of the $5 billion in investments, but also because they promised me to create this smart city, as well as a powerful educational platform for artificial intelligence. There will be a university there. 

If we want to be an advanced and civilised nation, this is what we should focus on in the future. There can be no artificial intelligence without you,” explained the Head of State.

As the President was informed, Belarusian scientists have about a thousand promising developments. More than half of them have been put into production, many of them are already successfully sold. The famous novelty, which quite recently literally blew up the electronics market, is a laptop from the Belarusian Holding Management Company Horizont. Director General of Holding Management Company Horizont Yuri Predko showed a small board with structural elements mounted on it, “This development is domestic one. The main thing here is the chip that controls the entire system. Next, we dealt with the production of the matrix. It is also made in our factory. Only the outer casing remains. We also made a first-level programme — the so-called BIOS. This is our software product, and it is difficult and even impossible to interfere with its work from the outside…”


However, the laptop is still localised by 31 percent. The requirement of the Head of State is to bring this figure to 70 percent by the end of the year. Aleksandr Lukashenko praised the developers and said: the domestic computer from Horizont has already replaced a device of a well-known Western brand on the President’s desk.

“Well done. You have showed that we can do everything. And no matter how difficult it was, we did it. I suppose the West has already come to realise that it is necessary to stop fooling around and to resume co-operation with Belarus. I don’t believe that we will knock head-on and look like an enemy all our lives. Eventually, everything normalises,” the President stressed.

By the way, Horizont is soon ready to present the next version of the product.
Yuri Predko specifies, “Let’s just say, for government agencies. And in total we will have up to 80 modifications. I want to draw your attention to another unique technology — a transparent TV. And here already 80 percent of the components are of Belarusian production.”
The President talked about achievements in the field of microelectronics in the context of import substitution, co-operation and the implementation of the Union State programmes. 


“At the end of last year, we shaped and agreed with the Russian Federation a roadmap for the development of Integral. It has already been signed and approved by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. We are in demand there. The average export of Integral was in the range of $70-75 million five years ago. This year, the enterprise made exports of $137-140 million. It’s been the best year ever,” experts report to Aleksandr Lukashenko.
“We (I talked to Putin) will give any money for this. Then there was talk of three hundred million dollars. I say: let’s create a joint cluster — Belarusian-Russian, and we will work. He promised that there would be no issues with funding,” the Head of State said.  Aleksandr Lukashenko also stopped at the stand with drones. Their combat capabilities were discussed by the President and the developers in a ‘not for the press’ format. In addition, they spoke about their civilian use. The Head of State, in particular, was shown a ‘vacuum-cleaning robot for the fields’. 
— This is a plant protection complex based on an agrodrone. A new development designed for applying herbicides, fungicides, pesticides to agricultural crops, mainly vegetables. This is an element of precision farming. It is given the boundaries of the field, shown where the towers and trees are, so it automatically calculates the flight route and goes to work. It can process two hectares in one flight — up to one hundred hectares in a shift. The application is carried out by the method of ultra-low volume spraying. It showed a fairly high efficiency. This is completely domestic development.
— Well, do we use it? — the President asked.
— Indeed, more than a thousand hectares have already been processed.
The Head of State was also shown some developments in medicine. For example, an artificial heart valve, which is not inferior to foreign counterparts. There are also modern materials for prosthetics, drugs for the treatment of oncological diseases at the exhibition. Deputy Director for Research at the Alexandrov National Cancer Centre Sergei Krasny spoke about them in more detail, “The first is the Elenagen anti-cancer vaccine. It has completed its clinical trials in metastatic platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The best results in the world have been obtained to date. No one even comes close to anything like it.”
This is only the first stage of mastering and introducing the drug into practice. It has great potential, 

“Currently, laboratory production of the vaccine has begun. It is produced in Belarus in the laboratory setting — 40 vials per week. This is not enough. We plan to expand the production up to 1,000 vials per week next month. In this case there will be enough vaccines to conduct large-scale studies in various types of tumours and for various chronic diseases.” 

     The second product is a new type of medical nutrition. Nova Vita. According to Sergei Krasny, it has simply unique properties.
“This product solves important problems. In clinical practice, it restores protein metabolism in patients and can significantly increase the five-year survival rate of cancer patients — by almost 30 percent. Today, no medicine gives such an effect: the tolerability of treatment — chemotherapy, radiation therapy — is significantly improved. However, there are significantly fewer complications after surgery with its help. This is also suitable for lactose intolerant people. For the first time in Belarus, a new technology of hydrolysis of lactose to glucose was used, so there is no lactose here at all,” Deputy Director for Research at the Alexandrov National Cancer Centre noted.  
At the end of the visit to the exhibition, the President was presented with a hybrid of lemon and citron. Such a fruit weighs 1 kilogramme!


Belarusian emeralds
Belarusian scientists managed to grow large gems the size of a walnut. For example, emeralds of an unusual red colour are produced. They are more expensive than traditional green ones. Jewellery with artificial emeralds is sold in jewellery stores and is in demand. They are also supplied for export.

Belarusian lithium-free batteries
“We promised the President to create our domestic lithium-free battery, and we did it. We have reached approximately the same parameters as lithium batteries. The price of a new accumulator is an order of magnitude lower than that of lithium batteries. Lithium is expensive, there are few deposits, there is not enough lithium for everyone. Contrariwise, there is sodium in Belarus. In addition to it, the battery contains ammonia, which we also produce, as well as graphene, a modification that we obtain from cheap graphite purchased in Russia,” Director General of the Materials Research Centre of the National Academy of Sciences Valery Fedosyuk explained.

Belarusian hazelnut
“This is a new sample for Belarus. Two domestic varieties are already included in the register. They are no different from world standards in terms of their performance, moreover, they even surpass them in some features. We are talking about taste, disease resistance and winter hardiness. Contrary to popular belief, hazelnuts are grown not only in the south. There are production plantings, for example, in the Molodechno District,” the Head of the Potato Breeding Department of the Scientific and Practical Centre for Potato and Horticulture of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Yulia Gunko said.

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by
Photos by BELTA, Yegor Yermalitskiy