Wage levels in Minsk should not be pushed too fast, otherwise inflation will engulf the entire country. Aliaksandr Lukashenka said this while receiving a report from Minsk City Executive Committee Chairman Uladzimir Kukharau. He also expressed concern about the huge number of cars in the Belarusian capital, saying parking lots should be moved “farther away” from residential buildings.
Kukharau reported to Lukashenka on the capital’s economic development. He said gross regional product had grown by 2.2%, while Minsk’s share of the country’s GDP stood at 32%. The average salary in the capital for the first half of the year was 3,878 rubles. Kukharau assured him that everything would be done to maintain the figure.
“Uladzimir Yevgenyevich, we need to maintain this level, but not push it too fast. Because wages, huge amounts of money, will sooner or later lead to inflation. And inflation in Minsk will spread across the country, and we will ‘eat up’ this money through rising prices”, he said.
“It must not happen that wages and household incomes rise enormously while production falls. Thank God, this is not happening either in Minsk or across the republic. But this needs to be monitored — so that labor productivity remains high. And we must definitely add to it through enterprises that are performing poorly”, he said.
It should be noted that for several years Belarus has not had a government resolution requiring the management of state-owned enterprises to ensure that labor productivity grows faster than wages. By comparison, the country’s average salary rose by 9.1% in real terms in July, while GDP grew by only 2.1%.
Lukashenka also drew Kukharau’s attention to where and how Minsk residents park their cars. He proposed dealing with the “ocean” of cars in Minsk and moving them farther away.
“There is a building, and in front of it there is a park extending to the roadway — it is good, it is beautiful. But that is rare. In other cases, it is an ocean of cars. Some of them are dirty, grimy. It is not very beautiful when a building is submerged in a line of these cars. We need to think about what we should do. There is no getting away from cars. But we need to think about what to do with these parking lots. In front of the building, near the building, people should still be able to breathe clean air — trees, shrubs, flowers, flowerbeds and so on”, he said.
Lukashenka believes that cars should be removed.
“Gradually, not tomorrow, and not through bans. Move these parking lots somewhere farther away. So that people, especially children, can go outside, and elderly people can sit on a bench. Therefore, landscaping is a very important issue for Minsk”, he added.
Lukashenka also asked about the situation in industry and other sectors of the economy.
“The main thing in Minsk is industry. What is the situation in Minsk’s industry, and which enterprises are falling short the most, which are the problem enterprises that require the most work?” he asked.
Construction and the development of technology parks were also discussed.
