OREANDA-NEWS. On 26 August 2008 was announced, that Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko appointed Andrei Kharkovets new finance minister.

Kharkovets used to be Belarus’ first deputy finance minister.

“You must be hungry for money, like any other minister. You must hold the money to the bitter end and give it only if you are certain the result is good. This is the key demand,” the president told Kharkovets, quoted by his press service.

“I frequently reproached the government, because I had to work harder than the government to save. Presidents are normally less thrifty than ministers, but it is the other way round in Belarus,” Lukashenko said.

He noted the special status of the finance minister in the government. “You are the man of the president in the government, and your mission is to count money and save it,” Lukashenko said.

He also said approaches must be the same to all regions. “They are all the same, we must give them the same profile,” Lukashenko said.