Lukashenko takes stock of meeting in Shklov District

The three largest agricultural enterprises in Shklov District are Kupalovskoye, which has three farms, and the enterprises of the Belarus President Property Management Directorate Aleksandriyskoye and ASB-Agro Gorodets.

Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled that when the three farms were merged into one production association Kupalovskoye, the state provided significant support, including the construction of dairy complexes. “I realized that we needed a base to develop something big. We helped, we made certain decisions. But since then it has got stuck,” the president said, stressing that time had come to give an impetus in order to implement the previous plan to set up a full-cycle production in the region, including cultivation, production of agricultural products, deep processing and sales.

“Kupalovskoye is to be transferred to the Belarus President Property Management Directorate,” the head of state announced the decision following the two-day discussion of the matter. “Aleksandriyskoye, a big farm, and [ASB Agro] Gorodets will also merge to make a holding company,” the Belarusian leader said.

It has been noted that large-scale transformations will not require any special financial investments. The primary focus will be on organizational work, order and discipline. "Order, good organization is necessary. We need normal operation here,” the president stressed. According to him, the district has everything it needs to build effective work. If necessary, the government will help with the purchase of necessary equipment, modernization of complexes, the president promised. “We will lend you a helping hand here,” the president said. There are plans, for example, to build a dairy plant with advanced processing of raw materials.

Speaking about the main goal in setting up a holding company, the president said: “In order to earn money, we need to process and sell products.” There are many examples of such full-cycle production facilities in the country, including the Dzerzhinsky agricultural company. “You need to follow suit. For this purpose you need to process milk at your own plant, and process meat at your own meat processing plant,” the head of state said. “You will get money and added value. Then you have to sell your products.”
“It will be a full-cycle process,” the president continued. “You need to produce, process and sell. You will accumulate all the profits here. This is the main point behind the idea.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko warned that he would keep special control over the implementation of the large-scale project to set up an agricultural holding company. Responsible officials and local managers will be held accountable for any failure. “All the officials were present here. They heard my demands. You are not going have a quiet life starting from this year, and maybe even from tomorrow, if the officials have understood me today,” the president said encouraging the residents of the agrotown to engage in efficient responsible work.

The head of state added that a lot in the successful development of both the enterprises and the district depends on the residents of the region. “Everything is in your hands. Discipline is top priority,” the head of state said. “Everyone should do their jobs well. If you have to sow and harvest, then you must do it.”

“Today we live without war. If we stop working, war will be here. Everything depends on economy. That is the idea behind our two-day discussions here in Shklov and Orsha districts. This is not because here is my birthplace. But because Shklov District and Orsha District have a good base. The lands here are among the country’s best, almost like in the country’s west. The land should yield result,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

After the meeting in the agrotown of Gorodishche to discuss the development prospects of the Kupalovskoye holding company and communication with local residents, Aleksandr Lukashenko went to see the machinery yard of the enterprise. The issues raised here included repair and safety of machinery and maintenance of production discipline.

Mikhail Kritsky, Director General of Kupalovskoye, told BelTA that at the meeting the president approved the development of an integration structure. “This will bring a positive effect to the participants of the association. The move envisages processing, loading of the existing capacities. The project will be worked out in cooperation with scientists. The task is to reconstruct, modernize and load the existing capacities and make products with high added value,” he said.

The head of Kupalovskoye emphasized that all the participants of the future association know exactly what they want to get from this: “In fact it is our request to enable farms to produce not just raw materials, but a finished product, and get additional margin for more effective development. This is the main point here. We have been moving in this direction this for a long time. This decision matured long ago.”

The topic was discussed at the meeting in Shklov the day before, on 9 August. Yesterday the meeting focused on the effective development of agricultural production in the gross-forming Shklov and Orsha districts.

A proposal was put forward to set up a big agricultural company in Shklov District. Developing the agricultural holding company Kupalovskoye by merging OAO Aleksandriyskoye, ZAO ASB-Agro Gorodets, and OAO Shklov Butter Factory into the new integrated company is the idea. These three enterprises belong to the Belarus President Property Management Directorate.

Head of the Belarus President Property Management Directorate Yuri Nazarov said: “We suggest combining all of that into one structure. If you agree with it, the Property Management Directorate will take over Kupalovskoye. It will be enough initially. I believe that we will put together a multi-unit agricultural enterprise with rigid centralization. We have examined the experience of Agrokombinat Dzerzhinskiy in more detail. I like this structure very much. But we have yet to put together this structure. By concentrating resources, by optimizing resources we will have an effect just like that.”

The president was informed that at present Shklov District enterprises (participants of the agricultural holding Kupalovskoye, OAO Aleksandriyskoye, ZAO ASB-Agro Gorodets, and OAO Shklov Butter Factory) trade in products and raw materials with each other but each of them is primarily focused on satisfying its own needs. Merging these enterprises into one integration structure has been suggested. The resource potential of this multi-unit agricultural enterprise will be impressive: the area under crops will be nearly 43,000 hectares or 59% of the area owned by Shklov District agricultural enterprises.

The merger of these enterprises into one structure is expected to allow meeting virtually the entire demand of the animal husbandry industry with forage of proprietary make, including cereals. The problem of supplying the meat-processing division of OAO Aleksandriyskoye and the new milk-processing plant with guaranteed amounts of quality raw materials will be resolved.

During the second stage a vertically oriented structure will be established that will operate as a single process flow for making and selling agribusiness products with a high added value.