Lukashenko named saving Belarusian villages one of his key priorities

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko named saving Belarusian villages one of his key priorities. He stated this on December 18 at the second session of the 7th All-Belarusian People's Assembly, BELTA reports.

The president does not rule out setting a cap on the construction of new housing in Minsk to address the outflow of people from the regions – no more than 300,000 square meters per year. And possibly even less.

"An alternative is satellite towns. Create a full-fledged urban environment of similar quality there and in the surrounding areas. Although I see a host of problems here. We will also comprehensively consider this issue next year," the head of state said.

In this regard, the President mentioned the idea of developing satellite villages—large settlements for a more even population distribution—instead of satellite towns. This amounts to approximately 200 villages.

He also recalled Vasily Shukshin's words from an interview after the release of the film "Kalina Krasnaya," which was seen by 140 million people: "With the destruction of the village, we will lose both morality and spirituality, our identity. These are our roots, our unique way of life, the work that nurtures us. Without our own land, a person, like a blade of grass, is exposed to all winds." The President, he said, is prepared to subscribe to these words.

That is precisely why, in order to preserve the village, Alexander Lukashenko places great emphasis on agriculture, regularly visiting the regions and agricultural enterprises.

"My task is to save the village! So that they are not empty, ramshackle houses. So that people can live there. That is the whole point," the Belarusian leader emphasized. "The village is the foundation of our life. Without the village, we perish. The state cannot exist without it." The audience responded to these words with applause.

As an example, the President cited the situation in African countries, where the most pressing issue was providing the population with food. Belarus, for example, was able to help Zimbabwe fully ensure food security, after which other countries on the continent expressed interest in cooperating with our country. "

We go there as friends. As they call us – brothers. We train, transfer technology, build the enterprises they need," Alexander Lukashenko noted. "We do everything for them. But not for free. And this is evidence that the state will pay its last penny to solve the problem of feeding its own people."

For Belarus to maintain its current level of economic growth, including in agriculture, it must strive, increasing GDP by at least 2-2.5%, the President believes.

"On the other hand, if we're talking about the countryside, the villages, I don't live on the moon, and I can clearly see that very small villages, as they were previously called 'unpromising,' certainly have no prospects for development," the head of state noted. This, he said, is an objective process, a global trend.

Many farms in the country's agricultural sector have gradually expanded, and now there are agricultural giants, such as the Dzerzhinsky agro-industrial complex, which uses over 100,000 hectares of land, comparable to the area of entire districts. Furthermore, a number of agricultural processes have been robotized, employing fewer people.

Currently, fewer than 2 million Belarusians live in rural areas, which is 10% less than at the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"We need to secure people in agro-towns and large (core) villages. We need to provide them with a normal life (meaning, infrastructure for living – Ed.)," the head of state said. "All of this requires, in most cases, significant financial and time investments. Therefore, all policy documents – both national and regional – must be synchronized. Otherwise, we will be faced with a huge development imbalance."