Belarus plans to export food for $4 billion this year
2011-09-22 12:36:50
This year Belarus will boost food exports to $4 billion, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said.
"In the first seven months food-stuffs worth over $2.5 billion were exported which is almost one third more than last year. Exports should be built up to reach $4 billion," he said at a Wednesday conference on pressing issues in the agricultural sector in the course of his working visit to Minsk region.
He reminded the conference of the plans of boosting food exports to $7 billion in 2015 and said: "Mikhail Rusy [Agriculture and Food Minister], you have to add up $3 billion by the end of the five-year period in order to get a big medal on your chest." "So as to post no less than $7 billion by the end of the five-year period," he said. In this context he said he would want to hear what measures are planned to boost farm produce export deliveries.
"Agricultural production can be profitable, not loss-making and we have seen that," he noted.
Lukashenko also found it necessary to consider issues related to deliveries of crops under government contracts. "One should not wait. We are greatly helping rural areas, so be so kind as to fulfill government orders. Especially as they are not that big," he said.