Lukashenko ordered to dig and look

On Tuesday, Alexander Lukashenko continued to form a government. This time, he took over the blocks responsible for industry, energy, agriculture, transport, construction and housing and communal services. The changes, however, were small. Most of the ministers have been reassigned. New people appeared only in positions responsible for agriculture, as well as architecture and construction. But the president has set new tasks for the government – to search for rare earth metals and engage in cryptocurrency.

For the second day in a row, the President of Belarus was engaged in forming a government. The heads of industry, energy, agriculture, transport, construction and housing and communal services were called to the carpet. Just like the day before, however, only two new names were mentioned.

Alexander Studnev, who until recently served as chairman of the Mogilev City Executive Committee, became Minister of Architecture and Construction.

“We watched him in Mogilev, and he did a lot,” the president admitted. And appealing to the head of his administration, he said: “Krutoy is so delighted with what he did in Mogilev. Probably because he’s the commissioner there. I know Mogilev down to every meter. We’ll go somewhere in the summer and see what’s been done there.”

But Yuri Gorlov, Assistant to the President and Inspector for the Gomel Region, became Minister of Agriculture and Food. He started his career in the early 2000s as a livestock technician at the Komsomolets collective farm, so this is an ideal candidate for protecting cattle from improper maintenance, which the president often complains about.

Speaking about the main problems in the country’s agriculture, Lukashenko stressed that he was very concerned about, frankly, low labor productivity. The President pointed out to those in charge: “Today, our labor productivity in the country is three times lower than in the European Union, in Europe. What does this mean? That we have three people doing the work that a European does. That says it all. Anyone who wants a bigger salary should work harder. There is simply no other way for us.”

But this was by no means the most difficult task assigned to the newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shuleiko, who is responsible not only for agriculture, but also for forestry, natural resources and consumer cooperation.

He instructed the official to deal with the “most urgent topic.” Alexander Lukashenko remarked: “Due to certain circumstances, the whole world is now hearing about the extraction of rare earth materials.” “They say that we have rare earth minerals in our dumps. We need to explore the rest: chemicals, oil, gas, and so on,” the head of state ordered. And he admitted that geological exploration in the country is not sufficiently developed. “Rare earth metals are pronounced only by Trump in the United States of America. You haven’t thought about it yet. There are not many of them in the ground. Maybe we have as much as the others?” – the president became interested.

And he specified: “Therefore, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection will have to work hard with you. This is the future. We need to dig, we need to see what we have in the ground.”

But the government needs to not only dig, but also engage in mining. “Look at this mining. More and more people are contacting me. If it’s beneficial to us, let’s do it. We have an excess of electricity. Let them make this cryptocurrency and so on. Moreover, you can see the way the world is going. And especially the largest economy in the world,” the head of state said.

Alexander Lukashenko is clearly impressed by the activities of US President Donald Trump and does not want to lag behind him, which means that members of the government cannot expect a quiet life.

But during the meeting, the president not only gave instructions to new and old ministers, but suddenly instructed them to draft a decree on reducing their own powers.

“We need to prepare a draft decree so that the governors do not contact me: from the same source there, because there is parallel design, construction and so on. Let them make decisions on the ground. As a last resort, let them coordinate with the deputy prime ministers of the industry, since we have raised their level. We have agreed with them, and we will monitor it. Except for the allocation of land, because land issues are sacred and remain with the president for now. And let them decide everything else,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

And he complained: “I sign, I basically support the requests of local authorities. Let them make the decisions. From the point of view of transferring powers downwards, we need to look at and release the president from these unnecessary functions.”

Lukashenko stressed that he wants the role of deputy prime ministers to increase in the new five-year plan. And he intends to ask them first of all. However, the president noted that he was generally satisfied with the work of the government, and the commission for consideration of ministerial candidates was created to take another look at everyone and make an informed decision on each one. But no one should ever relax. The President warned: “Today’s appointments do not mean an indulgence.. A government meeting should be scheduled in the near future. All the new and old ministers will get up to speed and will be ready to respond. There, to define specifically once again the tasks for the government. You know what to do in all directions. And I know what to ask you for and in what directions.”