Plastic BelAZ - the Symbol of the Bankruptcy of the Regime

Lukashenka has bet on rags instead of technologies.

While developed countries learn how to produce milk without cows, Belarus retains moth-eaten enterprises and believes that the crisis will fade away soon. Alas.

Belarusian bureaucrats now often use such words like "modernization", "innovation-driven growth", "advanced production", "knowledge-intensive industries". However, it is enough to take a look at production made by Belarusian plants and factories to assess all the "focus on innovation" of the Belarusian production, Zautra Tvaye Krainy writes.

We only have mole traps, covered pans, cleavers

Pastavy Belit plant which is about to be a bankrupt may be a good example. It used to produce TV sets. Since 2008 it has produced...waste clothes.

And there are a lot of such "able" plants in Belarus. The same Zhodzina BelAZ now produces shovels, rake, furniture accessories, even toys in addition to its main production. However, plastic BelAZs are eloquent of "focus on innovation" of the Belarusian industry.

Apart from tractors the Minsk Tractor Plant also produces can sealers, hole punchers; BelAZ and MTZ produce cleavers. Minsk Motor Plant produces mole traps, ice drills, covered pans, washhand-stands and other "high-tech" products.

- We are seriously lagging behind the civilized world, economist Leanid Zlotnikau believes. - While developed countries focus on new technologies, the knowledge economy, we keep developing ineffective industry. It makes such a big gap between economics working under traditional and new technologies.

They have milk produced without a cow, vehicles without drivers and aluminum sheet made in 24 minutes.

It requires only a few examples to make the lagging of Belarus clear.

- The Chairman of Sberbank of Russia German Gref has recently traveled with his team to California. He was presented different innovative production. He had big eyes and kept talking about it at meetings later, Leanid Zlotnikau recalls.

Production of milk by artificial means was one that amazing technologies. There is a cow stomach-like conditions created in a reservoir, then a plant mass is put in, for example, sea kelp and then bacteria that work on it. As a result, we have milk that barely differs from a cow’s one.

- Moreover, this milk is of high quality. It has no antibiotics that cows usually get no to get sick, or chemicals used in agriculture to produce animal feed, the economist notes. - But we still want to build more farms in hope to sell dairy products across the world.

It is worth understanding that our costs are really high. And the quality is lagging behind.

- Amid traditional production our procurement prices are like that in Europe. But does our farmer earn as much as one in Europe? economist wonders. - Of course, not. We spend 4-5 times more of the same oil to produce a ton of milk or meat than that is spent in Germany, and the harvest there is two times higher than in Belarus. Again, due to technologies.

One more high tech that is widely used in the world and could knock out many Belarusian plants and factories is 3D printers.

- A traditional production technology of a thin aluminum sheet is as follows: Australia provides with aluminum sulfate which is delivered, for example, to Sweden with their mountain rivers, it is melted down in big aluminum pigs and somewhere in Germany they are rolled out in a sheet of 1 ml. And only then they are transported to England where beer cans are produced.

The entire process on 3D printer takes only 24 minutes - from the moment of putting the aluminum sulfate in a container to the final product.

- One process that consumes not much energy. This is new technologies! Leanid Zlotnikau points out. — It should be clearly understood that there has been made a wide step up in the world and all technologies keep evolving.

According to the expert, the developed countries now have the problem with a great number of employees not needed due to automation process. For example, the same UBER actively develops technology allowing cars to drive without a driver.

- You sit in a car and set your destination and it takes you there. They now think what to do with millions of drivers, Leanid Zlotnikau points out.

In this regard, the Economist recalls Swiss referendum, last August it discussed the possibility of citizens not to work and have a guaranteed income of $2.5 thousand (then the Swiss voted against). Now such referendums are planned in other countries.

- The issue with labour force should be resolved. Can you imagine what will happen if the productivity in the world is as high as in the USA? In agricultural sphere one employee produces 12 times more production than that in Belarus. It is possible due to automation. Programmers develop programs to make a tractor work without a driver. It is clear that there is enough work, but it is concentrated in other spheres. Programmers, not tractor drivers are required.

In other words, new technologies around the world force the economy to develop.

- Many professions will soon fall into oblivion. Tailoresses, drivers are not competitive. The world has a technological breakthrough, the economist notes. - But we go round in a circle.

What should we do?

However, Belarus also has some problems with "odd" people. But the reason does not relate to the technological progress.

- Our unemployment is connected with poor technologies, the economist stresses. - The technologies that remained in Belarus now are not able to raise much money.

According to the expert, first, there is a need to change the perception of the world and the way the world economy runs and develops as a whole.

- A wider perception is required, not the thoughts about how the reduction of the Russian oil supply will affect our economy. Otherwise, the current vision of the world will pave the road to hell, the expert sums up.