OREANDA-NEWS. February 03, 2010. Agricultural complexes, be it a livestock breeding complex, a hog farm, a poultry or a hothouse, should be built in every region of Belarus, Minister of Agriculture and Food Semyon Shapiro said at a session of the ministry on 3 February.

Addressing the heads of the structural divisions of the agricultural industry, the minister said, “Each of you is responsible for raising investment and developing your region. You should not sit and wait until something comes out of it.” In line with the state agricultural development strategy, new facilities should be set up in every region, the Minister of Agriculture and Food underlined.

Semyon Shapiro demanded that each official keeps accurate financial records of foreign business trips. “Look into the efficiency of foreign trips: officials should not travel abroad as tourists, they should bring investments. If there are no tangible results, they should recover the costs,” he said.

“We can advance the pig-breeding industry to a new level,” the minister said. The enterprises should widely employ the expertise of the best genetic centers from Canada, Denmark and the UK.

A lot of work has to be done to improve the cattle-breeding infrastructure. According to the preliminary estimates, some 476 dairy farms with a total capacity of over 300,000 head should be constructed in Belarus in 2010-2015. Some 480,000 head cattle complexes, 38 hog growing complexes and six poultry farms are to be built, too.

In 2010, the investment growth in the agricultural industry should make up 125%. Br2081.8 billion will be raised. The farm gross output is projected to grow 14.8%.