A. Lukashenko expressed dissatisfaction with the work of flax processing plants in Belarus /updated/

March 5, Orsha / Vladimir Vasilkov - BELTA /. Alexander Lukashenko expressed sharp dissatisfaction with the work of Belarusian flax processing plants. The President of Belarus made this statement today at a meeting on the development of the flax industry in Orsha, a BELTA correspondent reports. "I have the impression that you yourselves today do not really understand what needs to be done with the industry," the head of state said, addressing members of the government and heads of enterprises. "You have not conducted market research. You do not have a holistic understanding of how to modernize the industry." Alexander Lukashenko drew attention to the huge stockpiles of finished products in warehouses. "This is tens of billions of rubles frozen for years in unsold fabrics," he said indignantly. "This is happening because you are producing uncompetitive products that do not satisfy consumers in terms of quality, size, or colors." According to the President, the technical re-equipment of the flax mill is piecemeal: "Something has been updated, something has been patched up, but there is no effective technological policy." "Everything must be considered, everything must be calculated before investing several billion rubles," the head of state said. "There is no holistic approach to go from one end to the other and say exactly: we are demolishing this, we are modernizing that, etc. Nobody knows this. And this depresses me more than anything. I am, first of all, addressing the prime minister and the government." "I'm not even talking about the head of the concern. You initially wanted to tell me so enthusiastically about some achievements... But the further we went through the mill, the more silent you became," Alexander Lukashenko noted. "You probably brought me here to show how beautifully you work, but when we went into the back alleys, we discovered the 'Stone Age' there," he added. The President sharply criticized the working conditions of people at the enterprise. "None of your wives would work in such conditions. Your primary duty - this applies to the head of the concern and the head of the enterprise - is to immediately, within 2-3 months, create normal conditions for people where they have nothing to breathe - they breathe tow, garbage, junk, dust," the Belarusian leader emphasized. According to him, "there can be no talk of any efficiency of the flax mill." "I have not seen any reasonable consideration of the issue here," Alexander Lukashenko noted. "They say that today there is no effective management structure for the flax industry. Perhaps there is, but you have not tried to use it effectively." "Well, let's create a holding company, a production association, or something else - but if you don't get moving, you won't achieve anything with a new management structure either," the head of state stressed. "Put the flax processing plants in order, grow normal flax straw - and we will sell normal products both on the domestic market and for export," he added. "If it is necessary to create this new structure, create it. But it should not be just a new haven for bureaucrats," Alexander Lukashenko emphasized. "Although there are certain positive developments, considering that the state has allocated almost Br560 billion in subsidies to organizations of the flax industry alone over the past five years, more significant results could have been expected," the President concluded. -0-