Lukashenko: Mineral resources are a national treasure

Efficiency, import substitution and export - three drivers of growth that will allow the country to develop further, were named today at the big meeting at the President's office.

Meeting on the state and development of the mineral resource base

The focus is on the development of the mineral resource base. In other words, the extraction and utilization of our minerals. The big meeting has a wide range of participants - the government, scientists, governors, heads of Belorusneft and Belaruskali. The President sets the tone from the very first minutes - there will be a serious conversation and many acute questions will be raised.

The President demands to establish unified control over the development of oilfields

The first thing the President drew attention to was the level of oil production in Belarus in the times of the USSR - about 8 million tons per year, and according to some sources - about 9 million tons. The experts present at the meeting confirmed this information. In this regard, the head of state asked a reasonable question as to why the production level has significantly decreased by now and what opportunities there are to increase it.

"It used to be that in Soviet times we produced about 8 million tons of oil. I am not naming the figure for nothing. Everyone in Belarus knows our natural and geological conditions. We used to produce 8 million tons of oil, today we produce 2 million tons approximately. What's the matter? They explain to me: they pumped it all out. I don't believe it," said Alexander Lukashenko.