Lukashenko: Belarus will be different over five years if it takes advantage of the situation
People will move to villages if the latter offer normal living and working conditions – as noted by the President of Belarus during his visit to the Orsha District today
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, population in rural areas will be objectively decreasing due to development of the production base and more advanced technology. Nevertheless, working and recreation conditions need to be perfected, and social standards should be developed in villages.
The President added that he had initiated development of agro-towns in Belarus – to create more comfortable living conditions in rural areas for people to come there.
“However, they [agro-towns] are nothing without good machinery, good complexes, and good working conditions,” Aleksandr Lukashenko believes. “At the initial stage, there was a mismatch: we built agro-towns, but technologies and equipment lagged behind. We are now beginning to catch up. This is not a quick process; after all, we have not a single agricultural company but thousands of them. However, the country will be different over a five-year period. This will also concern agriculture, if we take advantage of this situation when food prices have skyrocketed all over the world. Therefore, it is necessary to create normal conditions, and nothing else is needed. People will then make their independent choice. They have already flooded into cities, but it is not so easy to work there. So some outflow is already registered.”
In this regard, the President shared his view on the ‘fugitives’. Many of them already want to return to Belarus. “They ran abroad, but now 95 percent (they already voice this openly) want to return back – [saying]: ‘If only Aleksandr Grigoriyevich had forgiven us and opened the border...’. Ninety-five percent of them would have returned. I do not mind: some will go to prison, some to other places – depending on what they deserve. It is necessary to return. You will fail to strike root there.”
The President urged people not to lose touch with their native land and to raise children with this in mind.
