Vasil Shlyndzikau: Talks about “import substitution” demonstrate absence of government's ideas about economic development

Belarus should create conditions for the development of production and trade instead of making statements about “import substitution”.

Belarusian prime minister Andrei Kabiakou called at a meeting of the Council of Ministers to intensify efforts on “import substitution” in the domestic market in line with Aliaksandr Lukashenka's order to “make plants work at full capacity by August”.

Charter97.org talked to former director of Amkodor concern Vasil Shlyndzikau about the statement by the prime minister.

– I think this is the emptiness. The emptiness of the people who, in my opinion, do not know economics well enough. What does “import substitution” mean? Everything produced in Belarus is “import substitution”, because we don't need to buy it from foreign countries. So, the matter must be the development of production and the expansion of product range. It's a good idea looking at the problem from this angle. Everything else is just talks. We already had times when the government “encouraged import substitution”. Why encourage it? What do we substitute and by what? We just need to create conditions for production development.

– What can be done with sales? As we know, warehouses are filled with unsold products...

– As I understand, the problem of sales remains out of brackets. You may produce anything you want to “substitute” imported goods, but you won't have profit if people don't buy your products. These words, talks and “clever” statements show that the government don't have any proposals regarding the development of the country's economy. It only says empty words that are not followed by any actions. I personally haven't heard anything worth attention lately.