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Lukashenka’s dreams: Jalopy, nuclear station and space

Lukashenka’s dreams: Jalopy, nuclear station and space

The dictator told what he dreams about.

The implementation of the investment project on manufacturing cars in Barysau district was discussed on 14 January at a working meeting of Aliaksandr Lukashenka, the Prime Minister Mikhail Miasnikovich and the chairman of Minsk Region Executive Committee Siamion Shapira, the ruler’s press-service reports.

“Before we start our conversation, I will say that what many Belarusians, and first of all me, has come true, - Lukashenka said. – We have produced a Belarusian car together with our Chinese friends, and, according to my data, sold approximately 2.5 thousand last year. There is demand for such a car type not only in Belarus, but also abroad”.

The ruler wondered about possible problems in the process of manufacturing and selling the cars. “You very well understand that by manufacturing these cars with our Chinese friends in Belarus we intervene first of all Russia’s sacred thing. We will be selling them around the world, including Russia and Kazakhstan, - the Belarusian dictator pointed out. – I am wondering about today’s reaction of the Russia’s car industry lobby. As I understand this car received all due certificates and Russia, though. We have the right to sell it there. In this regard, the question arises of the utilization fee. How is it being solved? I think the Chinese friends should be also involved, and the problem should be solved if it exists”.

“It is the matter of our dignity to produce the volumes scheduled within the terms scheduled”, - Lukashenka emphasized.

“The car is good, it is in demand. It means it should be produced and promoted. Moreover, many our large enterprises get orders for producing parts. That is why this is a very important knowledge-intensive innovation project, and we must by all means implement it”, - he said.

At the same Lukashenka put the manufacturing of a Belarusian car meeting international standards on line with implementing projects in space industry and the construction of the nuclear power plant.

According to Mikhail Miasnikovich, the first stage has already been implemented of the project of creating the assembling line in Barysau, capable of producing 10 thousand cars a year. In future the creation of export oriented manufacturing is foreseen, capable of producing 120 thousand cars a year. The project is scheduled to be implemented together with the Chinese company Geely. “We are using their experience. This is a large company, which produces several hundred thousand cars a year and has a fairly good reputation in the markets. The project’s total values is about $650 million, including about $450 million of capital investments”, - he said.

The government has drafted Lukashenka’s decree “On certain measures on the issues of organization of car manufacturing”. “We were not rushing into submitting this draft decree, because production facilities needed to be created for large subassembly and see, how the market would react on another car manufacturer”, - the Prime Minister said.

Mikhail Miasnikovich admitted that the conditions are uneasy for the implementation, since there are about thirty enterprises in Russia alone, working at car assembling. In this sense the job should be done on reducing costs, and aim for the maximum possible added value to be formed in Belarus and, correspondingly, the salary of workers and tax payments. At the same time the Chinese party should be interested in operating in Belarus and jointly producing cars.

“There cannot be one-sided benefits. The project should be mutually beneficial, and we are aiming for that. This lies in the basis of the draft decree”, - the Prime Minister emphasized.

As for the certain difficulties, including the introduction of a utilization fee in Russia, Miasnikovich emphasized that “in order to ensure a decent level of profitability and competitiveness, these issues will be solved by both economic and political methods”.

The government has also set the task for the Ministry of Industry and for the joint enterprise to arrange for the necessary maintenance service for the cars produced. “There should not be serious questions as to the quality. At least we have not heard serious complaints from those, who purchased the cars for personal or business use”, - the Prime Minister pointed out.

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