M. Myasnikovich reported to A. Lukashenko on the state of the Belarusian economy and plans for the development of individual sectors

June 21, Minsk /BELTA/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko received a report from Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich on June 21. The head of state was informed about the state of the country's economy and plans for the development of certain sectors, BELTA was told by the press service of the Belarusian leader. Alexander Lukashenko inquired about how the government is addressing the task of achieving a GDP growth of 5.5% in 2012. "In this regard, I am concerned about the problem of inflation. What kind of inflation do we have, what does it consist of, what are the objective reasons? Can we achieve lower inflation than planned? Because price increases continue to concern our people," the head of state noted. Another set of issues that the President raised with the Prime Minister concerned ensuring the growth of the population's income. Alexander Lukashenko asked Mikhail Myasnikovich to assess the state of affairs in the export sector, especially regarding the unorganized export of products. "After all, the price difference still exists and is quite significant for certain groups of goods with other states. What are the dynamics, trends, and how dangerous is this?" the head of state asked. According to the Prime Minister, "the Belarusian economy is working steadily, and the population's incomes are growing." "The task of reaching an average salary of Br4-4.1 million is not easy, but we will strive to fulfill it," Mikhail Myasnikovich noted, stating that public sector employees are currently lagging somewhat in income levels. The President instructed that the first-category tariff rate be increased from August 1 and in October of the current year. This will allow for an increase in the wages of public sector employees. Taking into account the growth in sales profitability and labor productivity, the incomes of workers in industrial and agricultural enterprises will also increase. The head of state was also informed about the government's approaches to economic development in 2013, particularly in housing construction and agriculture. This year, the volume of investments and state support measures for agriculture is estimated at Br30 trillion. By the end of 2012, it is planned to commission 105-110 new and modernize 1.2 thousand existing dairy farms. "In two years, we will actually commission dairy farm capacities that were commissioned over the entire previous five-year period," Mikhail Myasnikovich noted. In terms of housing construction, the government plans to reach a volume of 6-6.5 million square meters in 2013. Of this, about 3 million square meters will be housing with state support. According to the Prime Minister, significant investment in infrastructure development will stimulate the construction of commercial and rental housing, as well as individual housing construction. During the meeting, a separate discussion was held on how the government plans to implement the agreements reached on June 15 in St. Petersburg at the meeting of the Prime Ministers of Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan. This concerns the coordinated industrial policy and the integration of industrial enterprises within the framework of the Single Economic Space. Approaches to creating a joint holding company based on MAZ and KamAZ were reported, taking into account the parity management of this structure and the preservation of manageability by one of the country's leading enterprises. "This integration is beneficial for the Belarusian side. Firstly, it is a unified car market, where we currently sell 77% of MAZ's products. And most importantly, we can enter it through cooperative supplies, i.e., specialization within the unified holding company," Mikhail Myasnikovich noted. "We also have the 'Avtokomponenty' holding, which we believe can be actively involved in cooperation with this unified holding." "There is principal consent from KamAZ owners on this issue," the Prime Minister informed. The President of Belarus also gave his principal consent. Now the government will proceed with the preparation of the necessary package of documents to report to the head of state when making a final decision. In addition, the government of Belarus proposes to merge Gomselmash and Rostselmash on a market basis. "We will discuss this with the Russians. The Belarusian side is ready to buy Rostselmash if the Russian side wishes to do so," Mikhail Myasnikovich said. "I think the profitability of this deal can be considered. Today we have a large domestic market of three states for forage and grain harvesting combines. We believe that a single company can operate in this market." -0-