Belarus invests $30bn in modernization in last four years

Over the last four years Belarus has injected $30 billion in modernization, Lukashenka said in an interview to the Serbian mass media on 9 June.

He emphasized that Belarus focused on the economy not during the global meltdown but some two decades ago. “We faced the problems Serbia is having today. Virtually all companies were in dire straits. We had no foodstuffs. Today we earn $7 billion on food exports,” dictator said.

“For example, our neighbors, and probably Serbia as well, found a way out of the situation and divided the national wealth. They decided to privatize everything, divide, give away, cut into pieces… We did not follow this path. We were not against the sales of our companies, their reincorporation into joint stock companies, privatization. But every seller seeks a better deal. A higher price is paid for a fully functioning company, a company that operates and produces goods. Therefore, we chose to grow our companies, make them viable and producing goods which are in demand on the international market,” he noted, adding that all the surplus funds in Belarus are reinvested in the economy.

“For the past four years of the ongoing five-year period which completes next year we have already invested $30 billion in the modernization of our industry. These are huge resources for our country. Considerable funds were invested in the previous years as well. I believe that over the last two decades we have injected some $120-130 billion in our economy. This means new equipment, upgrade of companies that are able to compete on the international market,” he noted.