MINSK, 21 June (BelTA) – President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has heard out a report of Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich on 21 June. The report dealt with the current economic situation and plans for individual economic sectors, BelTA learnt from the press service of the Belarusian head of state. Alexander Lukashenko asked Mikhail Myasnikovich about the Government’s efforts to increase the country’s GDP by 5.5% in 2012. “In this connection I am very much concerned about the inflation rate. What kind of inflation do we have, what factors are driving it and what reasons are behind it? Can we make it even lower than we have planned? The price rise is still a matter of serious public concern,” the head of state said. One of the blocks of issues the President discussed with the Prime Minister was about the growth in people’s incomes. Alexander Lukashenko asked Mikhail Myasnikovich to give his opinion on the state of things in export, especially disorderly exportation of goods. “The difference in prices for some goods in Belarus and other countries is still big. What are the current trends and how dangerous can it be?” the head of state asked. According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, the Belarusian economy is operating steadily, people’s incomes are increasing. “The task of raising the average wage to the level of Br4-4.1 million is not easy. But we will be working towards this target,” said the Prime Minister. He noted that so far public sectors are somewhat lagging behind in terms of income. The President instructed to increase the tariff rate first class on 1 August and in October this year. This will increase the wages of public-sector employees. As return on sales and productivity increase, incomes of employees in industrial and agricultural enterprises will be growing, too. The head of government also spoke about economic development plans for 2013, including in areas like housing construction and agriculture. In 2012 investments and state subsidies to agriculture will make Br30 trillion. This year 105-110 new dairy farms will be commissioned and 1,200 existing dairy farms will be renovated. In the matter of housing construction, the Government plans to have 6-6.5 million square meters built in 2013. Of these, about 3 million square meters will be built with the support from the state. According to the Prime Minister, heavy investments in the infrastructure development will spur the construction of commercial and rental housing, as well as individual housing construction. The President and the Prime Minister discussed ways to implement the arrangements reached during the Saint Petersburg meeting of the prime ministers of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan on 15 June. This pertains to a coordinated industrial policy and integration of industrial companies in the context of the Single Economic Space (SES). The Premier informed the head of state about approaches to the formation of the joint holding company incorporating MAZ and KAMAZ. The new company will be based on the management parity. “Belarus will benefit from this integration. First of all, it is a common market of vehicles where we sell 77% of MAZ machines. We can enter the market via cooperated deliveries, which means specialization within the joint holding company. Avtokomponenty holding company could be actively involved in cooperation with the new joint holding company,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said. KAMAZ owners gave the green light to the project, the Premier informed. The President of Belarus also agreed to it. Now the government will start preparing the necessary documents. Besides, the Government of Belarus suggested merging Gomselmash and Rostselmash on a market basis. “We will discuss it with the Russians. Belarus is ready to buy out Rostselmash if the Russian side is willing. I think that the benefits of this deal can be considered. Today, we have a large domestic market of fodder and grain harvesters of the three states. We believe that a single company can operate on this market,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said.

БЕЛТА