Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko said: “During an offsite session of the Council of Ministers' Presidium in Pinsk in December 2022 we looked in detail at matters concerning the development of these 11 cities. As a result we evaluated the performance of heads of district administrations and city administrations, made personnel changes, and worked out measures on future development. A year later we have to look at what has changed.”
Roman Golovchenko remarked that according to Economy Ministry estimates, positive trends are observed in all the regions, primarily financial trends. “Industrial output has increased in all the districts except for Polotsk District. In three districts it is higher than the country's average. The districts report steady growth of agricultural output. In three districts the growth rates are higher than the country's average, except for Soligorsk District. The districts also report positive trends in the output of the animal husbandry industry,” the prime minister noted.
However, in his words, there are a number of complaints about the performance of these regions. “Not a single region hit all the assigned social and economic development targets in January-October 2023. The city of Pinsk, Lida District, and Soligorsk District hit most of the targets. The other eight regions hit only half of the assigned performance targets. “I am concerned that there are no substantial changes in raising fixed-capital investments. Only three regions have managed to accomplish this task,” Roman Golovchenko said.
The prime minister mentioned underperformance in matters where resources are available. For instance, housing construction. “According to Economy Ministry estimates, there is still a risk that the amount of housing commissioned using all sources of funding will be below annual projections in the cities of Pinsk and Bobruisk, in Mozyr District, and Borisov District. The amount of housing commissioned using state support may be below annual projections in the city of Novopolotsk and in Borisov District. There are problems with spending budget appropriations on facilities in individual districts,” he said.
The insufficient number of initiatives to launch new investment projects remains a problem. It was revealed vividly when One District – One Project plans had to be worked out. “Although projects should be implemented at an accelerated pace in these regions,” the head of government added.
Roman Golovchenko also mentioned another major problem. Municipal authorities have nearly stopped using investment contracts as a tool for attracting investors by providing a broad range of legislated privileges and guarantees. “For instance, no new contracts have been signed in Polotsk District, Molodechno District, and Mozyr District after previously signed investment contracts expired. As a result, no new manufacturing facilities are being created. Or some are being created in insufficient numbers. No new jobs are created. Prospects of development are getting bleaker and the district starts experiencing problems with workforce drain. But everything depends on the organization of work at the local level, on assigned priorities, and the responsibility of the personnel for achieving results,” he stated.
Written by belta.by
