А. Lukashenko holds meeting with government

The situation at the border, agriculture, sanction threats from the West, the pandemic, as well as issues of reforming business and enhancing the facilities and resources of the Belarusian State University were discussed at the meeting of the Council of Ministers. The President has set the tasks for the most urgent and critical issues on the agenda. The task for agriculture in winter is to get ready for early sowing, to develop a detailed plan for land reclamation and to restore the regional farming services.

It is necessary to keep a special control of the situation on the border. Security along the external border and prevention of provocations is of the utmost importance. It is also necessary to help pregnant women, to provide migrants with firewood for heating.

As for the dialogue with Europe, the instructions for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to make it clear to the West that we should not be threatened with another round of sanctions and manipulation. The reaction will be harsh and immediate.

The situation in the fight against the pandemic in our country is optimistic. The rate of COVID-19 continues to decline. Hospitals are returning to their usual mode of work, concentrating only in separate institutions: departments for patients with coronavirus infection.

Another issue on the agenda was the construction of a new academic building at the Belarusian State University proposed by the Government. But is it timely, when the maximum effort should be concentrated on saving people's lives? The country is going to spend about 2 billion dollars on the treatment of COVID.