Belarus’ economy minister: Secret to economic success lies in simple discipline
23.02.2026
MINSK (
BelTA) – The secret to success for the Belarusian economy lies in simple discipline, Economy Minister Yuri Chebotar told the Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.
“The secret to success is simple discipline. The government has laid out all the tasks: production programs, with 40 products allocated, specifying where, when, and how much to produce; export programs for sales markets, including the far arc and Africa, with everything similarly assigned; and the investment program. Ministers in the field are fully aware of their tasks, and they simply need to carry them out – that’s what discipline is all about,” Yuri Chebotar stressed.
Assessing the economic situation overall, Chairperson of the National Statistical Committee Inna Medvedeva noted that the economy grew over the past year. She drew particular attention to positive trends in the social sector, mentioning increases in pensions and wages, as well as a decrease in the unemployment rate. At the same time, she noted that there are also pain points in the economy.
Negative trends and, most importantly, how to overcome them were recently discussed at a meeting chaired by the head of state. On 17 February, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko heard the government’s report for 2025, outlining priority tasks for the Council of Ministers.
“Right now the government’s top-priority task of immediate urgency is to promptly stop the decline in the manufacturing sector and to reduce the stock in storage. Literally manual control should have been established over all the key enterprises yesterday. May god help you if you release any stock in storage to anyone without a payment in exchange.”
The economy, according to him, has become a real battlefield. Especially since Belarus finds itself in a very difficult situation. “Under serious pressure from both east and west. I’m talking about the economy. Although politics is also an expression of economics in concentrated form, as the classics said. Nevertheless, we are economically squeezed by two powerful blocs. On one side is the European Union. On the other are the People’s Republic of China and Russia. Our main ally and partner is in a very difficult position, we feel this, since it is our primary market,” the Belarusian leader said.
“The secret to success is simple discipline. The government has laid out all the tasks: production programs, with 40 products allocated, specifying where, when, and how much to produce; export programs for sales markets, including the far arc and Africa, with everything similarly assigned; and the investment program. Ministers in the field are fully aware of their tasks, and they simply need to carry them out – that’s what discipline is all about,” Yuri Chebotar stressed.
Assessing the economic situation overall, Chairperson of the National Statistical Committee Inna Medvedeva noted that the economy grew over the past year. She drew particular attention to positive trends in the social sector, mentioning increases in pensions and wages, as well as a decrease in the unemployment rate. At the same time, she noted that there are also pain points in the economy.
Negative trends and, most importantly, how to overcome them were recently discussed at a meeting chaired by the head of state. On 17 February, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko heard the government’s report for 2025, outlining priority tasks for the Council of Ministers.
“Right now the government’s top-priority task of immediate urgency is to promptly stop the decline in the manufacturing sector and to reduce the stock in storage. Literally manual control should have been established over all the key enterprises yesterday. May god help you if you release any stock in storage to anyone without a payment in exchange.”
The economy, according to him, has become a real battlefield. Especially since Belarus finds itself in a very difficult situation. “Under serious pressure from both east and west. I’m talking about the economy. Although politics is also an expression of economics in concentrated form, as the classics said. Nevertheless, we are economically squeezed by two powerful blocs. On one side is the European Union. On the other are the People’s Republic of China and Russia. Our main ally and partner is in a very difficult position, we feel this, since it is our primary market,” the Belarusian leader said.