MINSK, 11 June (BelTA) – 100% localization and high product quality are top priorities for domestic machinery manufacturers, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he made new appointments on 11 June, BelTA has learned.
“The task is simple: produce our own. Localization must reach 100% (90% in the first stage). Everything should be Belarusian. And most importantly – quality,” the president said. He emphasized that failure to meet these requirements would be met with the strictest accountability.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that he keeps this issue under constant control and holds the government responsible. “The prime minister, Deputy Prime Minister [Viktor] Karankevich, and the minister and I talk about this constantly. That’s it. The discussions are over,” the president said, demanding that proper quality of manufactured products be ensured.
This applies in particular to machinery, including that produced by MAZ. “If we are going into Africa and competing with the Americans, the Russians, the Chinese… If we are competing, then we need to win. So far, we are winning. But under no circumstances can we lower that bar. Whatever it costs us. Quality is issue number one,” the head of state stressed.
The topic of the Lidagroprommash holding company and the open joint-stock company Lidagroprommash was also discussed. Their product range includes, for example, potato cultivation equipment, which has not undergone major technological changes in recent years but remains in good demand among farmers who do not plant potatoes on large areas and need simple, reliable devices for planting and harvesting this crop.
The holding’s enterprises also produce full-cycle grain drying complexes of varying capacities, equipment for removing stones from fields, seeders of all types (grain, corn), a wide range of rotary rakes, and self-propelled sprayers.
“We will need all of this,” the head of state emphasized.
The president also noted that this year, favorable weather conditions are developing for many types of agricultural work, particularly for grass mowing and forage harvesting. “Yesterday I was visiting the fields nearby, where I usually do my own farming and experimenting. It was a pleasure to see. It’s a good year, the grasses are very good,” he said.
