How to revive the Vitebsk region? An open and difficult conversation is taking place in the region at the presidential level.
The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, is holding a meeting on ensuring sustainable development in the Vitebsk region. The event was announced earlier during the report by the head of the Presidential Administration, Dmitry Krutoy, which took place on October 22, as reported by BELTA.
The President was presented with a plan for upcoming work, the main points of which are detailed reports from the regional leadership on key areas. Issues requiring constant attention and control were also discussed. This concerns serious decisions that were made regarding the Vitebsk region earlier. This includes the work of integration structures and the agro-industrial complex of the region as a whole, the performance of the industrial sector, and the situation at troubled enterprises, and most importantly - the development program for the region.
All these areas are under special control, and on Friday, there will be a separate discussion on each of them during the meeting. Alexander Lukashenko emphasized this while listening to the report from the head of the Presidential Administration.
Dmitry Krutoy, following the report, revealed additional details about the upcoming meeting to journalists. Among the topics of the event will also be livestock mortality and measures necessary to improve the situation in this area not only in the Vitebsk region but also in the country as a whole. "The President wants to make a comprehensive decision to finally address this problem as well," he said.
"We have invited more than 300 officials. This is practically the entire active of the Vitebsk region. Leaders of key enterprises, all leadership of district executive committees, key departments of the Vitebsk regional executive committee. Considering that these issues are significant at the national level, delegations from other regions of our country will also be represented," said the head of the Presidential Administration.
Regarding the development program for the region, he first reminded about the background of the issue. During a visit to Polotsk in 2024, where the regional "Dazhynki" were held, the President demanded that the leadership of the Vitebsk region thoroughly investigate the situation in each of the 21 districts and develop a clear, simple, accessible development program for each district - a kind of program for the revival of Vitebsk region.
In the spring of this year, the chairman of the Vitebsk regional executive committee, Alexander Subbotin, presented this document to the head of state. However, as it turned out, most of the activities were absolutely not worked out. "As the President succinctly noted, it was essentially a projection. And he sent these documents for revision," Dmitry Krutoy informed.
After almost six months, the revised program will be presented again.
The discussion on the document will be comprehensive. After all, there are plenty of problematic issues in the region. In particular, the President pointed out that the region chronically fails to meet the main parameters of socio-economic development. The gross regional product has not reached the planned level even once over the five-year period. The level of finished goods in warehouses remains one of the highest in the country. In addition, there are problems at certain enterprises.
Another important block of the upcoming meeting is the agro-industrial complex of the region. Back in 2016, at the insistence of the leadership of the Vitebsk region, which was then headed by Nikolai Shershtnev, agro-industrial integration structures were created. A corresponding decree from the head of state was adopted. "There were also many meetings and discussions at the level of our leader. He expressed very serious concerns and doubts," noted the head of the Administration.
Initially, there were four such integration structures. However, in 2020, as part of a major adjustment of the decree, their number increased to seven. Today, six are functioning. "There is a complete breakdown of the economic results they have achieved. Some things worked out. But overall, the country's leader has significant dissatisfaction with the results of their current work," Dmitry Krutoy noted.
According to him, despite the support previously provided, about 30% of agricultural organizations that are part of the six integration structures are currently operating at a loss. There is also indebtedness in the processing sector, which has been forced to advance these agricultural enterprises for conducting agricultural work.
"Today, this knot of problems and debts greatly worries our leader. Because the draft document to be presented at the meeting essentially proposes a third stage of reorganization, where instead of agro-industrial associations, we will create two holdings for meat and dairy directions. And again, an additional package of state support is requested, related to further deferrals and postponements or write-offs of fines, penalties for energy, for fulfilled government guarantees, and a number of other areas," said the head of the Presidential Administration.
He emphasized that Alexander Lukashenko is concerned about how justified this is and who has not fulfilled their previous obligations. This is precisely what needs to be clarified at the meeting. After all, the proposals were supported, but Alexander Lukashenko always warned that they should not be spontaneous and temporary, and there would be personal responsibility for their implementation by the leaders.
"If someone wants to sit it out - it won't work. I have a list of invitees on my desk, and everyone will bear personal responsibility for the decisions made," the head of state noted in November 2019 at a meeting on the development of the agro-industrial complex of the Vitebsk region. - "If you are doing this to get a breath of fresh air, then in a year there will be no air."