OREANDA-NEWS. May 28, 2010. Minsk Region should improve its economic performance and thus contribute to the progress of the entire country, said President Alexander Lukashenko today while presenting a new chairman of Minsk Region Executive Committee, Boris Batura, at a meeting of the region’s leading government officials and public figures.

“It is my strong wish to see Minsk Region improve its economic performance, and do so as soon as this year thus laying the foundation for further development in the next five years. If Minsk Region gets better, the entire country will benefit from it. Minsk Region is the axis, a huge territory with fertile lands, very good people and great opportunities,” the President said.

The change of the governor has nothing to do with politics, Alexander Lukashenko said. “We will succeed in government work if we have good results in the economy. Economy is now the most important thing for us,” he said. There is no need to look for anything extraordinary about this staff rotation, the Head of State added. “The development of the state should be accompanied by the realization of the potential of its human resources, which is a normal and natural process. Any stagnation in this process is unacceptable as it may lead to regress and recession,” the President said.

Today Belarus faces challenging tasks. “However, as we see, not everyone can handle them. Some cannot cope with the fast-paced tempo of work and resign themselves, some fail to reach good results, which makes it necessary to transfer them to other posts to prevent things from getting worse,” said the Head of State.

Speaking about Leonid Krupets’s record of accomplishment in the office of governor of Minsk Region, the President said Mr Krupets managed to forestall an economic collapse in the region and ensure the socio-economic situation remained stable. Under Leonid Krupets, the region finally managed to gather more than two million tonnes of grain and meet its targets related to the provision of the city of Minsk with food products. However, the region lacked dynamism in economy, and today there is a need for improving the efficiency of the region’s agricultural industry. “Minsk Region needs a demanding and principled style of governance,” the President said commenting of today’s appointments.

"The duo of Governor Boris Batura and his first deputy Valery Ivanov is a mix of expertise and youth, which can make Minsk Region a leader in many areas," said the Head of State. Minsk Region is special because it is largely responsible for the social and economic situation in Belarus at large. "Minsk Region should become an example for all regions," said Alexander Lukashenko.