President criticizes work of Orsha Tool Plant

The President of Belarus is visiting Orsha District of Vitebsk Region. The visit is focused on the development of the production sector, including problematic enterprises. In particular, Alexander Lukashenko visited Orsha Tool Plant. Orsha Tool Plant produces measuring instruments for equipping machine-building enterprises. But the technology has long gone ahead, and this production still works with rare machines of 70-80s.

In addition to the lack of new machines, the enterprise has many other problems.

The governor reports about the development of the region. For 7 years the population decreased by 4 percent. Therefore, they think how to detain people in the village. They reconstruct villages create infrastructure, build hospitals, swimming pools. But the President says it is important to create production, so that there were jobs. As for example, in Kopys, where wood processing and cheese production enterprises were set. Now the plant is at the modernization stage. But it moves extremely slowly: the first stage is planned to be completed by mid-2019.

Alexander Lukashenko immediately refused the proposed route and went through all the premises of the plant in order to fully assess the production chain: from the receipt of raw materials to the manufacture of finished products. He went through every door to see the most unpleasant picture: old machines piled in heaps, dark and wet rooms in which dozens of people work. In one of the shops, the President was instructed to repair the roof and organize production using new machines.

Another point of the President's route is Baran. Along with Orsha and Balbasovo it makes the triangle, which should become exemplary. The enterprise "Communication Technology" is the he oldest one in our defense sector. Today it specializes in the production of radio communication systems, telecommunications. Now the plant is under modernization. Over the past year it created a workshop for the production of mobile communication complexes and armor protection. Soon, the professional radio communication equipment will be launched here.

In general, Orsha is just the beginning a large-scale experiment in the country. The city should become a beacon and a reference point for others (for example, Borisov, Molodechno, Lida or Bobruisk), it must show a high level of development. And, as the President has already said, the task is to properly locate the production forces and distribute the workforce throughout Belarus, and not only in Minsk and the regional centers. Other cities should become agro-industrial capitals. The meeting in Orsha will assess the work of the government and the entire region.