OREANDA-NEWS. October 16, 2009. Energy security is akin to the national independence, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko as he heard out a report from Energy Minister Alexander Ozerets on 15 October.

The head of state remarked that today the practice of receiving reports from heads of branches of the national economy continues. A week ago the President heard out a report from the head of Belarusian Railways and considered matters regarding the operation of the Transport Ministry. The President remarked that he had expected the Energy Minister to deliver his report much earlier as Alexander Ozerets took the office back in May 2006. After the appointment Alexander Ozerets was tasked with modernizing the national energy industry and the Energy Ministry administration system. “He was given a carte blanche to deal with personnel matters and was warned that it is one of the key posts in our country because energy security is akin to the independence of our state. I think Alexander Ozerets has done a lot since,” said the head of state. He added that the Minister’s report should cover not only successes but also existing problems and ways to resolve them.

According to Alexander Lukashenko, the government has a done a lot to increase the reliability and effectiveness of the fuel and energy industry operation. Industrial and agricultural companies, social facilities and households are supplied with electricity, heating and gas without interruptions. The smooth work of the energy industry allows steady operation of the national economy and improvement of living standards. Installation of gas service plays an essential role in it. At present Belarus is at the forefront of gas service installation in the world: all 118 regional centers and 738 agro-towns have gas service.

The President said he would like the Energy Minister to inform him about the progress in implementing the energy security concept, measures taken to reduce the natural gas share in the total energy budget, generation of heating and electrical energy. Alexander Lukashenko reminded that the state program for modernizing basic production assets of the Belarusian energy system is one of the most important instruments for implementing the concept. The Energy Ministry has been chosen to coordinate the fulfillment of the program. Today Alexander Ozerets is supposed to inform the President about what has been done in this area, what has been done to modernize the basic production assets of the Belarusian energy system, whether concrete energy-saving results have been achieved and whether costs have been reduced. The operation of peat processing enterprises will also be discussed.

Apart from that, the impact of the re-organization of the industry management system that has been going on for the last three years on the fuel and energy industry will be discussed. Preparations for building the Belarusian nuclear power plant is an important issue as well.

Ineffective use and even embezzlement of budget funds, which law enforcement agencies are investigating, is inadmissible in the fuel and energy industry, said Alexander Lukashenko.