OREANDA-NEWS. August 9, 2010. The results of the agricultural activity will be assessed proceeding from its effectiveness and profitability, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said as he toured the Vitebsk Oblast on 6 August.

The President reiterated his orders to increase the efficiency of farming. “The croppage is important, but we need effectiveness here more. Let us count how much has been put in and what the profitability will be. The main thing here is the effect we will gain from grain, milk and meat,” he said. The head of state also drew attention to the qualitative conservation of fodder and crops.

Alexander Lukashenko was briefed on the harvesting campaign in the country as he visited the Mayak Braslavsky agricultural company. According to Agriculture and Food Minister Mikhail Rusyi, the country cropped 6 million tonnes of grain on 6 August.

Alexander Lukashenko demanded to prompt the implementation of the country’s flax industry development program. It should be completed in 2010-2011. The head of state also instructed to purchase up-to-date equipment necessary for increasing the quality of flax fiber.

On the same day the Belarusian leader visited the Drivyaty recuperation center of the Braslav Lakes national park. The President got familiar with the infrastructure and organization of the work at the center. Opened in 1998, the center occupies 3.8 hectares.

Vitebsk Oblast Governor Alexander Kosinets said there are plans to develop the recreation potential of the Braslav lake district and the oblast as a whole. In the oblast there are almost 300 tourist farmsteads, with the number to reach 500 soon. Apart from government funding private investments into tourism are vigorously sought after. According to Alexander Lukashenko, if the problem of bad roads is resolved, additional opportunities will be created, including opportunities for attracting investors. A road network will be set up to link Braslav lakes.

The President remarked that Russian companies could participate in creating tourism infrastructure at Braslav lakes so that more Russians could come for recreation there.

A Moscow resident, who was enjoying recreation at Drivyaty, thanked Alexander Lukashenko for Belarus’ attitude towards preserving the memory of the Great Patriotic War. She mentioned that there are many well-tended monuments and memorials in Belarus. In turn, Alexander Lukashenko said that a new building for the Great Patriotic War History Museum will be built in Minsk in order to preserve the memory.