About Belarus

Belarus named as one of islands of stability on the planet

“Our doors are always open for good people. The Old World and the New World begin to realize it. Belarus has never been a troublemaker in Europe. Moreover, it is one of the islands of stability on the planet today,” Alexander Lukashenko said...

Belarus is much more interesting than you might think

“We can tell a lot about our nature, art, traditions, famous Belarusians, new enterprises and modern technologies. We can tell how we keep the historical memory and what we teach our children. We want you to see all these with your own eyes"...

Lukashenko: Justice is a priority, people cannot be hurt

“Some people say that Belarusians are patriots. They want to know how we nurture patriotism. We do not do anything special. People will always be the patriots of their country if they know that it is their land, and that they will be happy, that their children will live in this country,” the head of state noted...

Lukashenko on interreligious peace in Belarus: We are one nation

“We do not have this problem. I cannot even say what we are doing for it. We are just living. We are one nation,” Alexander Lukashenko said. “As for religion, the motto is as follows: everybody will find a way to church”...

Lukashenko: No excessive pressure on mass media in Belarus

"Leading newspapers, national, oblast and regional, have been preserved in the country. They are subsidized by the government. People say that if they are financed by the state, they are dependent. No major mass media outlet will say that there is excessive pressure on them from outside. Yes, we ask journalists to be objective and also to be a little more patriotic for the sake of peace and stability in the country"...

On Belarusian economy

Average salary to reach $500 in Belarus next year

However, a commensurable growth in labor productivity is needed for raising salaries. “Labor productivity is a priority,” the head of state emphasized. “Labor productivity has a direct impact on salaries. Private and state-owned enterprises and companies should be encouraged to pay more attention to this issue"...

Lukashenko: Salaries in Belarus are relatively low, but services are cheap

“People can be paid twice as much, but then they will pay more for certain services,” Alexander Lukashenko stressed...

Belarus president against splitting utilities industry for privatization

"It turned out that in the past people used to pay 30% of the cost of utilities and the state budget compensated for 70% of the costs. Right after these calculations were made, it turned out that people pay 52%. A nearly two-time increase. Can you imagine how private companies would be able to fiddle with these prices? Who controls them?” wondered the head of state...

Belarus president promises self-repaying hotel construction projects

Recoupment is also high on the list of priorities of potential investors. For instance, a hotel built by a Turkish investor opened in Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast on 16 November. The proximity to the nuclear power plant construction site and the high pace of development of Ostrovets District will allow recouping the investment rather fast, believes Alexander Lukashenko...

Lukashenko: The future belongs to advanced technologies

According to the head of state, Belarus applies advanced technologies in all spheres of life, is developing nuclear energy and space technologies. “They are applied in healthcare and education,” Alexander Lukashenko said...

No plans for Belarusian human spaceflight mission yet

Alexander Lukashenko said: “We have not yet thought about launching a manned spacecraft of our own. We may reach this point at some point in the future. It cannot be done for image building only. The project needs to recoup some of the costs. I think building a spacecraft together with Russians or Europeans or Americans would not be a problem. Whether we need it or not is the question"...

On Belarus-Russia relations

Lukashenko: Russia will never be a foreign country to me

The head of state remarked that in the process of formation of the Union State virtually all Russians willing to visit Belarus and virtually all Belarusians willing to visit Russia realized that they are living in the common land. “It means a lot,” Alexander Lukashenko stated...

Russia was and remains a brotherly state for Belarus

"Regional cooperation is a cornerstone of Belarus-Russia integration. It was reaffirmed once again during the forum of regions of the two countries in Minsk in June 2016. Back then, the specialized exposition, just like the previous one in Sochi, showcased the practical results of our joint work"...

Lukashenko: Not the best year for advancing Belarus-Russia cooperation

During this year’s meetings with President of Russia Vladimir Putin within the framework of the Union State of Belarus and Russia and within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union the heads of state repeatedly discussed this topic. Instead of concern the discussions started demonstrating even some grumpiness because “we’ve been unable to pull out from this dive and restore our economy for years now”...

Lukashenko: Belarus, Russia have every chance to improve relations

“I would like to note that we stay committed to all the agreements with our brotherly Russia within the Union State, the CSTO, and the EEU. We protect the economic interests of the Russian Federation, cut short any attempts to import the banned products from the West. At the same time we are doing our best to replace them with Belarusian goods"...

Lukashenko, Putin to meet on 22 November

“We have already made all the necessary decisions. We just have to fulfill these agreements. There are some unsettled issues. We will discuss them one-on-one. We will do out best to reach agreements and add a new impetus to our relations,” the President stressed...

Belarus president: No color revolutions will happen if people live well

“Now Belarus and Russia should take a look at the very important things that people need in order to live well. Then people will be patriots and no color revolutions will be able to unseat us. But if we fail to take care of that, then, powered by the frenzied democracy of today’s world, people will unseat us without color revolutions”...

Lukashenko: Belarusian soul is in the Russian language

“Belarusian soul is in the Russian language. We have lived together for a very long period of time, speaking one language, putting our soul and our values in it. It is our common language, our greatest asset,” the head of state noted, stressing that this legacy cannot be abandoned...

Lukashenko: No reason for Russia to fear Belarus’ presence in its information space

The head of state noted that Russian journalists are probably better professionals, but they have something to learn from their Belarusian colleagues in terms of integrity, content and value of materials. “We have never let ourselves infringe on Russia’s interests by showing some things and omitting others"...

On Belarus-Russia economic cooperation

Belarus ready to supply as much food as needed to Russia

“For us Russia is the premium market today. The Russian leadership requests us to supply certain amount, especially during the autumn-winter period. We even redirect exports from other markets in favor of Russia,” the head of state noted...

Belarus seeks closer ties with Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast

According to the head of state, there are no problems in the mutual relations between Belarus and Kaliningrad Oblast. A big number of Belarusians live in that Russian region...

Russia offered stake in major Belarusian companies in exchange for Bashneft shares

“You have interest in these companies; you want to buy them out. I have an interest in oil production. You supply us with 25 million tonnes which we process locally. We would like to pump some 7-8 million tonnes ourselves and deliver them to the country. When the privatization of Bashneft was announced, I sent a proposal to your government and leadership"...

Lukashenko: No equal conditions for economic entities in Belarus, Russia so far

"To compete on your market, on our common market, we have to cut down on all our expenditures, including wages. Because of that, the taxes are lower, the military whose work is to protect our common space are paid less, and so on,” Alexander Lukashenko noted...

Lukashenko promises to sort out problems with delivery of farm equipment to Russia

Belarusian equipment is often sold via mediators in Belarus, the President remarked. “You are saying that many people sell this equipment, but not many people provide service maintenance,” he said. The head of state assured that he will sort out the problems with the delivery and maintenance of Belarusian agricultural equipment to Russia...

Lukashenko: Russia is not interested in letting Belarusian companies extract oil in Russia

“Oil is abundant these days. Yes, the price can be higher, but we have several options in mind. We may deliver oil via Ukraine. We utilized the option in the past when Russia stopped selling oil to us. Back then we delivered Venezuelan oil via Ukraine"...

Lukashenko: Ten million Russians have jobs thanks to cooperation with Belarus

Russian enterprises produce 50-60% of the parts used by the Belarusian plants. “Manufacturing industry, agriculture sector give jobs to at least 10 million Russians,” Alexander Lukashenko emphasized...

Lukashenko: No Belarusian guest workers in Russia

“There are no Belarusian guest workers in Russia. There are only organized construction brigades there,” the President stressed commenting on some Russian media reports of about 1 million Belarusian guest workers in Russia...

On integration

Lukashenko warns against disintegration in EEU

“It seems that we have achieved progress in a number of fields, but the EEU is not fully developed and has not yet adapted to the modern world. And if we see drawbacks, we need to eliminate them in a natural way, without launching any trade wars which we frequently observe. There are many blank spaces to fill"...

Lukashenko on the Union State: Much has been done, yet integration has slowed down

"I hope that we will be able to make additional steps maybe not in the near future but in the medium term,” the head of state stressed when asked what has been done in the Union State over the past 20 years...

On conflict in Ukraine

Lukashenko about conflict in Ukraine: There will be no winners in that war

“It is needed to improve the situation today. We are ready to play any role to restore peace there”...

Belarus ready to help organize local elections in Ukraine to promote peace settlement

“If the two sides reach an agreement and ask Belarus for assistance, we are ready to play any role to help restore peace there. If you want us to help organize local elections, about which there is so much talking, we are ready to arrange them"...

On U.S. elections

Belarus president describes Donald Trump as hardline pro-American citizen

Alexander Lukashenko said: “Everybody is whining now that a wrong person has been elected. But I say he is just the man! He will pursue a pro-American policy for sure. He is a hardline pro-American citizen, who will put America first. We should start thinking about our place in this policy"...

On sport

Lukashenko calls for more transparency in investigation of doping scandals in sport

“Athletes can win without doping, pharmaceuticals, but we need to make sure the playing field is level for all. This industry needs to be open to all"...

Lukashenko: It was disappointment and joy to see the Russian flag carried by a Belarusian in Rio

The head of state described the flag demonstration as a display of unity of Belarus and Russia. “We wanted to demonstrate that we absolutely support Russia against the illegal and wrong pressure exercised by certain forces upon the Russian Federation,” continued Alexander Lukashenko...

On history

Lukashenko: It is important to remember Great Patriotic War

"These monuments are our memory. We must respect them, and our children and grandchildren will respect them too. It is a must, and the society does not question it. We have never questioned this issue,” the President said...

Lukashenko against rewriting Belarusian history

The head of state noted that other countries had often bent history to match politics. Belarus has managed to avoid that. “Right after becoming the president of the country, I told Belarusian intellectuals I don’t want them to try and match my tastes. I told them not to rewrite history to glorify my actions,” noted the Belarusian leader...

Lukashenko against canceling 7 November holiday

“It is our history. We celebrate this day officially on 7 November. The time will come when people will no longer need to celebrate this holiday and will not pay attention to it. Maybe it will be canceled in the future. Today is no time for this,” Alexander Lukashenko said. He added that there is no need to impose any new holidays...