Stanislau Bahdankevich: Belarus Needs Systemic Reforms

The replacement of government will not bring any serious changes.

The former chairman of the National Bank, Stanislau Bahdankevich, commented to Deutsche Welle on the change of government in Belarus.

According to him, Lukashenka is the real head of the government in Belarus, and he is not ready for change. The country needs systemic reforms, an up-grade of the economy, an increase in labor productivity, competitive growth of the products, but none of these things is taking place in the country, Bahdankevich complains. Instead, "they dismiss the government for the hole in the roof, which is ridiculous," – he says.

Nothing is known about the new prime minister’s economic program so far.

"The real assessment of the situation is not given, it is not recognized that we have a huge unprofitability of state companies, large stocks, huge accounts payable, that we are trailing behind, like Russia. Probably, in a year, Lukashenka will bang the table with fist again. As for me, I do not expect any major changes," – Bahdankevich stated.