Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 19 May (BelTA) – An overwhelming majority of Belarusian enterprises do not feel abashed by the new economic conditions. Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov made the statement at the session of the Council of Ministers held on 19 May to discuss results of the country’s social and economic development in Q1 2015, BelTA has learned.

“We see that an overwhelming majority of enterprises do not feel abashed by the new economic conditions. They have refreshed their product range and hold on to traditional markets while reaching for new ones. They tackle the crisis phenomena on their own and work to reduce costs,” noted Andrei Kobyakov. The Prime Minister stated that the situation is more complicated at a number of enterprises. Traditional markets have been closed for their products and they are unable to reach new ones using the existing product range. “People depend on every enterprise. We follow our own way and work in two directions: we analyze the state of affairs at each enterprise individually while implementing general systemic support measures at the same time. The situations are different for every enterprise, this is why we also have to come up with unconventional solutions,” explained the Prime Minister.

In his words, preserving the core and the intellectual potential of enterprises in a complicated economic situation is the main task. “The enterprises that now offer part-time jobs should give their employees every chance to earn money on the side, the legislation allows it. Oblast administrations and the ministries should take active measures to accomplish it,” noted Andrei Kobyakov. He stressed that if an enterprise has secured concrete contracts with end consumers, particularly export contracts, then the government and the banks will find ways to raise money for manufacturing projects.