Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko: Price regulation is a matter of social justice

MINSK, 21 December (BelTA) – Price regulation is a matter of social justice, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a government meeting to discuss price regulation mechanisms on 21 December, BelTA has learned.

“I want you to understand that you will not kick this issue into the long grass. This is a moral, political, strategic issue. Whatever you may call it. The main thing is that this is the matter of social justice,” the Belarusian leader said. “Talking to [First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai] Snopkov almost every second day, I tried to explain him that this is a moral issue, a matter of social justice.”

“Let us take for example an increase in milk prices,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. The main question here is who profits from this increase. It would be good if those were milkers. But the situation was absolutely different. “The State Control Committee reported that these price increases were distributed among those who deserve it the least. Those were not even trade workers, but some owners. They earned at least $35,000 a month on these price hikes,” the head of state said.

“Nevertheless, we have succeeded to some extent in putting things in order. This is a matter of justice. Demand for justice has always been high among the Slavic nations, including in Belarus. We cannot leave this matter behind. This is the number one matter for our people. There is no populism here (I say this to those who will start criticizing us tomorrow). No populism before the election campaign. We have always kept the matter on the radar. Since it has not been resolved, a tough decision has been made,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

According to him, the major goal of the current meeting is to see how this process is developing.

The president emphasized that when the government was tasked to deal with the matter more than a year ago, it was not about freezing or even restraining prices. “It was about regulating prices. Prices were restrained across some commodities. Prices went up in terms of others. You cannot fool the economy,” the Belarusian leader said. “We understand perfectly well that prices freeze can create shortages. No one will work at a loss. We kept that in mind.”

“We are addressing this issue openly today. We have gathered the officials that the government proposed. Here are the people who produce the goods (their representatives, I mean ministers), those who sell the goods, people who organize the whole process. Everyone needs to hear what we are discussing. Someone will make decisions, and someone will execute them,” the head of state said.

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