OREANDA-NEWS. April 20, 2010. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has demanded that the construction sector show major improvements in its work by August 1, the press service of Lukashenko reported after a meeting that addressed the situation in the construction industry.

“The task for the government is to ensure discipline and order in subordinate organizations. The pyramid must be headed by the ministry [for architecture and construction], not region administrations,” Lukashenko said.

He also said he hoped European construction standards would be adopted in Belarus on August 1. “There are many complaints about projectors and designers – we must make largest construction organizations create their own design offices,” the president said.

According to Minister Alexander Seleznev, so far in 2010, 30,000 square meters of energy-saving homes have been built in Belarus. The target stands at 6 million square meters of energy-saving housing annually by 2015, 60% of the total dwelling output.

The ministry will be aiming at bringing the cost of square meter of housing closer to the average monthly wage.

National Bank of Belarus (NBB) Governor Petr Prokopovich, also present at the meeting, said the productivity rate in Belarus’ civil engineering was 30% lower than in Turkey and Poland and almost 2.8 times lower than in Austria and Sweden. Within five years, the figure must be increased by 50%.