OREANDA-NEWS. July 26, 2012. The government should ensure the proper quality of harvesting work, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich.

“Colossal efforts used to be employed once to thresh millions of tonnes. It was a victory for the entire country. Now we have threshed one million tonne without starting harvesting on a large scale. Hard to notice. It is a great effect. This year we should get close to nine million tonnes. I mean cereals, leguminous crops, and corn. It is a victory for us and will satisfy our needs in virtually all areas," the President said.

The head of state pointed out the need to gather in the harvest without losses and the need to keep it safe. “If there is no control, then we get competition in the bad sense of the word and we lose a lot of the harvest. Now we need to do quality work to calmly gather in agricultural crops, particularly cereals. There are enough harvesters and they are very good. Quality harvesting is the top priority. Close attention should be paid to it this year. We should not lose our bread” the head of state said.

Alexander Lukashenko said that he had instructed the State Control Committee to monitor the harvesting campaign.

The President said that he would get familiar with the harvesting progress within the next few days, starting with southern areas.

The head of state pointed out the role and contribution of scientists to the development of various branches of the national economy. “Scientists should be at least half a step ahead while producing most technologically advanced innovation proposals for agriculture and other areas,” he said.

The working meeting also touched upon the main parameters of the development forecast and the state budget for 2013. The President reminded that the day before he had discussed the matter with Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko. “We reached an agreement that the present parliament will pass the budget bill and the forthcoming development forecast as it is. Therefore, efforts should be put into preparing these documents and forwarding them to the parliament. These matters have to be dealt with now,” the head of state added.

Mikhail Myasnikovich remarked: “We plan the GDP growth rate to be about 108.5% in 2013. Housing construction should rise considerably to 6.5 million square meters. A lot of attention will be paid to the development of agriculture and the production sector. The necessary prerequisites will be created for that starting H2 2012”.

Alexander Lukashenko said: “While meeting with [Chairperson of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus] Nadezhda Yermakova yesterday, I demanded we should do our utmost for the development of the economy. The National Bank should team up with the government. The currency market looks good despite seasonal trends. But you have to keep in mind the economy. All the money is generated by the economy,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

“I would like to learn the situation regarding salaries. We should pull people closer to USD 500 somehow. After that, they will have this safety net (it is good money) and will be able to earn money on their own. We will be able to stay away from putting more pressure on the salary issue from the top. But the average salary of USD 500 is the least we should have in our country,” Alexander Lukashenko stressed.

Mikhail Myasnikovich said that the average salary had been growing faster than planned. The process matches the labor efficiency growth.

There are plans to raise the first-class basic rate that will drive up salaries in the public sector. There are also plans to raise salaries for the military.

According to the Prime Minister, as far as real cash income of the population is concerned, this year’s target has been hit. Incomes of individuals will exceed even this year’s forecasts. The trend will stay in place in 2013 and later on, Mikhail Myasnikovich said.

At the meeting Alexander Lukashenko also touched upon the launch of the Belarusian satellite. “We have launched a satellite of our own. Belarus has become a space power just like we planned once. We have preserved an important Belarusian school and have made it better. We have created a new enterprise and are ready to make satellites by ourselves,” the President said.

“I think we should tightly cooperate with the Russian Federation. We work very intensively with the China in this regard. It is necessary to gain maximum profit from the satellite. After getting the product we should sell it on the market to those, who are interested in it,” the President noted.