Belarus doubles
its GDP
BY
ELSA CLARO —Granma International staff writer—
Fleeting and hard won, this exclusive with
Sergei Sergueievich Sidorskiy, prime minister of
Belarus, was a fruitful one. We were able to confirm
at first hand and with authority information that
not even the most arrogant and polarized press could
conceal in its campaign against the Belarusian
authorities before and after the recently concluded
electoral process that led once again to the win by
Alexander Lukashenko and his working team. The
premier first responded to Granma International’s
question:
With all the ferocious pressure from the United
States and the European Union, how was Lukashenko’s
reelection achieved?
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union,
each one of the states in that space chose their own
form of development. The Republic of Belarus, which
has no oil or gas, experienced a notable drop in its
economy, something similar to the situation in Cuba
at that time.
"We were obliged to take on a new economic policy
to stand up to the loss of the production volumes
that we had within the Soviet framework. When the
disintegration happened, almost all the enterprises
dedicated to manufacturing machines with complex
technology – for example, the car industry –
agriculture, transport, descended to almost zero.
Even companies well known internationally, such as
that of potassic fertilizer were literally at the
point of bankruptcy in the 90s."
The drop was 11%-plus. The GDP fell to 15% and
inflation went up to 25%. Moreover, it at should be
recalled that in January 1994 the Soviet Union
dismissed those in power because corruption had
escalated, while there was a severe drop in the
living conditions of the population. Power was
assumed by the conservative Mechislav Hirb, who did
not achieve the urgently needed balances. The
presidential elections in the summer of 1994 were
convincingly won by Alexander Lukashenko who, after
various years of work, reconfirmed his popular
acceptance in the 2000 elections, with which he
acquired a broad parliamentary support. He was
reelected in the presidential elections of 2001.
That political sequence illustrates what
Sidorskiy told us in Havana, a few minutes after
signing various trade protocols with Cuba. He
continued explaining:
"In early 1994 with his electoral victory,
President Lukashenko proposed a very precise
economic development action program, clearly
accepted by the majority of citizens without whose
participation no goal would be possible.
"We selected the route of an economy oriented
toward social development. The state took it upon
itself to help every enterprise and, step by step,
production levels began to be restored. The plan was
successful because by 2000 they were supplying the
open market with their products. Those enterprises
already have a place in the national budget because
in that year many of them attained the production
levels they had before the disintegration of the
Soviet Union.
"That could be considered as the initial jump.
Since then and up to 2005 that program originally
proposed 12 years ago by President Lukashenko has
had great success, as we have doubled the gross
domestic product with an annual increase of no less
than 10%, industrial growth has stabilized and, most
importantly, we can guarantee our own self-sufficiency
in food."
Other indicators?
When the reforms were initiated, the average wage
was 70 rubels and now it is 250. As a regulation,
when wages are increased, pensions grow. We have
preserved free medical attention and education and
social programs related to different sectors of the
economy – particularly agriculture – support for
youth, and scientific development are being
progressively reinforced.
In other words, virtually every sector of the
economy in Belarus is running at the expense of the
execution of those formulated development projects
that are continuing to advance as each proposition
is won.
The country is maintaining its stability. We can
virtually affirm that there is no organized crime on
our streets, thus our children and citizens feel
safe. These are the bases of the 83% obtained in
democratic elections that gave the Belarusian people
their state and their president."
Immediate plans?
Over the next five years our president proposes
to emphasize works aimed at fortifying the
construction of a state directed to the wellbeing of
our citizens. The necessary regulations are in place
and the people are aware of them, and support the
internal political policy previously carried out and
the improvements proposed by Luckashenko.
In 1996 an economic union was created between
Minsk and Moscow that includes political aspects and
is open to other states. Currently, there is an
attempt to fortify that idea which has the full and
signed support of Belarus and Kazakhstan. The group
should be joined by Ukraine, albeit with some doubts
over certain sections of the integrationist
agreement. The rest have decided to initiate this
activity.
Based on that antecedent we would like to know
how that experience is going?
We have been working on the structure of a
federal state with Russia for 10 years. The heads of
state of the two nations have signed the required
commitments and each one of the governments has its
own detailed program in relation to the development
of that alliance directed at economic development.
There is a very clear idea on the joint annual
budget and cooperation between enterprises in Russia
and Belarus, linked in terms of the most important
sectors of machine building. Up to 80% of exports
made are cooperative ones; hence our successes
depend on those of the Russian Federation and vice
versa. The overall project benefits from
unrestricted customs agreements. To date, everything
is going forward as planned.
