Lukashenko: Easier time for Belarus in 2012 thanks to arrangements with Russia

MINSK, 9 December (BelTA) – President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko hopes that in 2012 Belarus will have an easier time thanks to arrangements on natural gas deliveries with Russia. The Belarusian head of state made the relevant statement at the 41st congress of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRSM) in Minsk on 9 December.

“I hope that next year we will have a bit easier time thanks to the arrangements with Russia, other countries, the creation of the customs space of the single Customs Union,” said the President.

Alexander Lukashenko stressed that Belarus can survive only by relying on novelties, on something “that results in very expensive products with the least costs”. “The present five-year term is a five-year term for new things, innovations, for creating products with a high added value in order to recover from the financial crisis that we experience nearly every five years because we export less products in US dollar terms than we import, for instance, natural gas, oil and so on,” remarked the head of state.

The President mentioned the Hi-Tech Park. He said that the HTP operation is not satisfactory yet. “You have not achieved the altitude we once thought about,” he said.