Lukashenka Says He Will Appeal to the “Heavenly Office”

Aliaksandr Lukashenka said during appointments to senior posts that he would appeal to the “heavenly office” to ensure dry weather during the grain harvest.

“I will ask the heavenly office to give us dry weather because we have already begun the harvest. We have started harvesting barley, and the winter barley looks quite good. We achieved the result we had been striving for,” he said.

According to the Agriculture and Food Ministry, as of July 8, spring barley had been harvested from 28% of the planted area, with 294,000 tonnes collected at an average yield of 4.2 tonnes per hectare.

“The key thing is that the combines and grain handling facilities must be in good order. As you can see, it has been raining. God willing, it will stop. But tomorrow and the day after, the cyclone moving towards us from the northwest will still give us a hard time. I looked at the satellite images. So we need to get through this,” he added.

This is not the first time during his political career that Aliaksandr Lukashenka has spoken about having a special relationship with the “heavenly office” regarding rainfall. More recently, while addressing residents during the Festival of National Cultures in Hrodna amid heavy rain, he said he had brought the rain as a gift.