Events

MINSK, 21 October (BelTA) – Belarus builds a social state, not a socialist one. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made the statement as he met with heads of CIS mass media on 21 October, BelTA has learned.

The Belarusian leader is convinced that any state should primarily treasure its own people. “A state for the people. It is written everywhere in Belarus, it is our motto,” stressed Alexander Lukashenko. “The state should work for the sake of people. Hence a social state, not a socialist one”.

The lack of planning is what makes Belarus different from socialist states. There is no doubt that Belarus has not rejected planning as a whole. For instance, every state has to adopt a budget as its financial plan. For instance, Russia adopts budgets for three years. Belarus adopts budgets for one year as well as 12 major social and economic development indicators. “But it is not that kind of planning that the Soviet Union had,” stressed the President.

The head of state also mentioned competition among the major differences. “Competition is what I accept in market relations without second thoughts. If competition is fair, there will be no stagnation in the society and the economy,” believes Alexander Lukashenko. In his opinion, the state should create conditions for people to show their best qualities and it will always benefit any state. Therefore, declaration-based procedures are available in Belarus for anyone, who wants to do business. Belarus is ahead of the CIS states in the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking.

Apart from that, the existence of private property is what makes Belarus different from socialist countries. “Private property is necessary. But it has to be created transparently and honestly,” stressed Alexander Lukashenko.

Yet Belarus has preserved a lot of positive aspects that socialist states have, for instance, free education and healthcare.