Фото: president.gov.by
The Belarusian Presidential Administration remains one of the key institutions in Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s system of power and has even strengthened its influence since the political crisis of 2020. This is the conclusion of a new study by the BIPART think tank titled “The Presidential Administration in Belarus’s System of Public Governance: Functions, Personnel, Influence.”
The researchers note that in Belarus’s personalist system of governance, the Presidential Administration (PA) performs not only technical functions related to supporting the head of state, but also serves as a personnel filter, a coordinator of ideological policy, a tool for supervising the state apparatus, and an intermediary between Lukashenka and other state institutions. According to the authors, it is precisely the Administration’s proximity to Lukashenka that allows its officials to intervene in areas formally overseen by the government, parliament, or other state bodies.
The study emphasizes that following the 1996 constitutional referendum, the Administration evolved from a working body attached to the president into one of the central elements of the presidential power vertical. In 1997, it was granted the status of a state administration body, and its powers were significantly expanded. Later, the Presidential Administration acquired additional instruments for overseeing the legislative, judicial, financial, and information spheres.
The authors pay particular attention to developments after 2020. According to the study, the Administration’s functions were further expanded in 2025. In particular, it received authority to facilitate interaction between the president and the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly, while presidential aides were granted broader oversight powers, including the ability to involve security agencies and initiate disciplinary measures against officials.
Regional presidential aides were also assigned responsibilities for monitoring threats to national security, maintaining domestic political stability, and supervising ideological work in the regions.
The researchers argue that the Presidential Administration effectively functions as a parallel center of state governance. Its structure includes departments responsible for personnel policy, ideology, the legal system, information policy, economic affairs, and regional policy. This enables the Administration to coordinate and oversee areas that formally fall under the jurisdiction of the government, parliament, courts, and local authorities.
A separate section of the study examines personnel policy. According to the authors, virtually all appointments to senior government positions pass through the Presidential Administration. The PA organizes the selection process, evaluates candidates’ professional qualifications and loyalty, and works with security agencies that conduct additional background checks. The authors describe personnel policy as one of the most important mechanisms of political control over the state apparatus.
In the field of ideology, the researchers conclude that the Administration is responsible less for creating ideological narratives than for adapting them to Lukashenka’s current political line and disseminating them throughout the state hierarchy. This work is coordinated through the Main Ideological Directorate and state media outlets. Following the adoption of a state ideology directive in 2025, ideological oversight was also extended to the private sector.
At the same time, the authors assess the Administration’s influence on economic policy as more limited. In their view, it often acts as an intermediary between the government, the National Bank, and the president, helping to present initiatives in a form that is politically acceptable to Lukashenka.
The study also challenges the widespread perception that the head of the Presidential Administration—currently Dzmitry Kruty—is the “second most powerful person” in the country. According to the authors, there is no single second-ranking figure in Lukashenka’s system of power. While the head of the Administration belongs to a narrow circle of highly influential officials, his influence stems primarily from access to the president and the ability to oversee the implementation of presidential instructions.
The study is based on an analysis of legislation, open sources, and expert interviews. The authors conclude that the evolution of the Presidential Administration’s functions reflects a broader trend toward tighter control over state institutions and social processes. In Belarus’s current political system, the Presidential Administration remains one of the key instruments through which Aliaksandr Lukashenka exercises power.