Belarus President wants weapons that sell on global market

MINSK, 24 January (BelTA) – New trends should be explored by the Belarusian defense industry and weapons that sell on the global market should be designed. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made the statement at the government session held on 24 January to discuss the development of the Belarusian defense industry, BelTA has learned.

“We are going to talk about the security of our country, our army and its weaponry,” said the head of state as he opened the session. “The defense sector of the economy has always been the flagship of cutting-edge technologies and innovations. Every army wants the most reliable and best products. And we must not fall behind in this matter”.

Alexander Lukashenko remarked that Belarusian defense industries offer rather a large product range. Troops control and weapons control solutions are in demand as well as systems to defend against high-precision weaponry, radar stations and air defense solutions. At present the Belarusian defense industry exports over 70% of the output. Companies like Peleng, Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant (MZKT), and Tetraedr export virtually the entire output. “We have managed to resolve the situation when Soviet weapons, which were in excessive supply in the Armed Forces, dominated the export structure. Now nearly 90% of the exported weapons and services are Belarus-made. The positive trend should be secured,” underlined the President.

The head of state remarked that the competition on the modern market of armaments and materiel is exceedingly tough. “Therefore, we should promptly find and systematically develop new areas. Using our potential, mechanisms of military and technical cooperation, we should create modern armaments that are needed in our army and on the global market,” Alexander Lukashenko believes. “The profits are obvious. The modernization of defense industry enterprises and the establishment of new manufacturing facilities represent a platform for acquiring and assimilating promising technologies. In the future they will give a boost to the innovation-driven development of other branches of the economy and will make our positions on the global market stronger. In the end they will beef up the defensive capability of the country, raising financial revenues of the state budget”.

The President reminded that the instruction to set up new enterprises and create modern armaments had been given a long time before. “Therefore, today I’d like to hear what products are being worked on and what we plan to design in the near future, what areas of relevant efforts we will focus on. It is not accidental that representatives of the main Belarusian defense enterprises are present here. It is important for me to know about their readiness to implement the proposals under consideration,” Alexander Lukashenko told participants of the session.

“I would like to warn everyone against begging for money for some ideas and making empty promises. Only concrete products, prices, deliveries to foreign markets and to our army. Personal responsibility starting with the prime minister and ending with everyone involved in the development of a product,” stressed the President.

“We are not going to invest crazy money just like we don’t invest in wood processing, confectionery and other products. Only concrete projects and deadlines. The demand on the home market and foreign ones is a must. If we are willing but incapable, then it is out of the question,” said Alexander Lukashenko.