A. Lukashenko instructed to bring flax industry enterprises to profitable operation within three years /updated/

September 21, Vitebsk region / Vladimir Matveev - BELTA /. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has instructed to make all flax industry enterprises in Belarus profitable within three years. He gave the corresponding instruction today during a working trip to the Vitebsk region, a BELTA correspondent reports. "Three years is our timeframe to achieve profitability in flax as a whole and for the production of a larger volume of final products," the head of state said. Upon arrival at OAO "Dubrovenny Lenozavod" (Dubrovenny Flax Mill), the head of state, addressing the officials present, immediately stated that "there are two topics left that we haven't looked at in depth - flax production and sugar beet." "We have dealt with corn, with the harvesting of grain, grass is more or less okay, with potatoes. Now flax remains, where we talk a lot, make a lot of decisions, and sugar beet," Alexander Lukashenko noted. At the same time, he observed that, unlike flax, the situation with the production and processing of sugar beet is quite good thanks to the measures taken earlier. "But, nevertheless, we will look into it. In the future, we must build a new (sugar. - BELTA note) plant in the Mogilev region. It needs to be built very quickly, and we also need to create another zone for sugar beet production, because the demand for sugar will be high," the Belarusian leader is confident. As for flax, Alexander Lukashenko noted that based on the information he receives, "we are working extremely poorly." He drew the attention of officials to the need for faster practical implementation of the decisions made during the meeting at the Orsha Flax Mill in the spring of this year. As reported to Alexander Lukashenko, flax raw materials are in high demand on foreign markets, and the traditionally high demand this year has been supplemented by the factor of a poor harvest of this crop in other European countries. However, the head of state emphasized that even if foreign markets are closed, it is necessary to process domestic flax fiber into fabrics and provide schools, kindergartens, the military, officials, etc., with linen bedding and other flax products. As an example, he noted that he himself uses linen bedding. "Flax will exist in Belarus. I do not want us to repeat the situation with potatoes," the President emphasized, referring to the fact that now it is necessary to restore the production of the latter crop in Belarus due to incorrect decisions made several decades ago. In addition, Alexander Lukashenko pointed out that flax has a unique political significance in Belarus, as it is depicted on the republic's coat of arms. "We will demand no less for flax than for grain," the Belarusian leader stressed. In particular, the prospect of creating a flax production and processing holding in the Vitebsk region on the basis of the Orsha Flax Mill was discussed. It is planned that the holding will include flax mills, as well as its own distribution network in Belarus and abroad. In addition, within the framework of the holding, interaction will be established with the flax seed stations of the republic, the Flax Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, sewing factories, the banking sector, and others. Alexander Lukashenko instructed the interested parties to thoroughly work through all issues and begin the creation of the holding from April next year. He stressed the need to implement all planned plans and programs for the development of the flax industry in Belarus as quickly as possible. The head of state was informed about the plans for modernizing the country's flax processing enterprises. For example, for the modernization of RUPTP "Orshansky Lnokombinat" (Orsha Flax Mill) in 2010-2013, it is planned to attract more than Br505 billion from various sources. This will increase the volume of flax fiber processing, boost product exports, and ultimately significantly increase the average wage at the enterprise. During the discussion of plans for the technical re-equipment of flax processing enterprises, Alexander Lukashenko emphasized that existing infrastructure and capital construction should be approached in a thrifty manner. Where possible, during modernization, they should be completed, brought into proper condition, but in no case should they be mindlessly demolished. Where this is still necessary, a financially sound approach should also be taken to the construction of new buildings so that they are both cheap and functional. "We don't need reinforced concrete, like in Soviet times," said Alexander Lukashenko, noting that such facilities should be built from modern light metal structures. The head of state familiarized himself with an exposition of various flax products, a modern machine complex for cultivating and processing this crop, and technological processes for processing flax straw. An exhibition of agricultural machinery produced at enterprises in the Vitebsk region was also presented to the head of state. In March of this year, Alexander Lukashenko also visited the Orsha Flax Mill to familiarize himself with the situation in the country's flax industry and the implementation of his instructions. At that time, the President expressed firm confidence that the flax industry and the production of flax products in Belarus can and must be competitive, and emphasized the inadmissibility of curtailing the flax industry in the country. Over the past five years, the head of state has given about 70 instructions to the government on the development of the flax industry. OAO "Dubrovenny Lenozavod" was established in 1997 by transforming the state enterprise of the same name. The main activity is the production of flax fiber. The enterprise supplies about 80% of its flax fiber to the Orsha Flax Mill; the remaining fiber is used for the production of technical products (twine, wadding). In 2008, a line for the production of long flax fiber from the Belgian company Van Dommele was installed at the enterprise, with a design capacity of 2 tons of flax straw per hour. This year, the technology for cultivating and harvesting flax using the European method is being tested in the fields of the Dubrovenny Flax Mill. -0-