Alexander Lukashenko President of Belarus

Q: Mister President, under your leadership Belarus has changed and implemented a number of social and economic policies. It would be interesting to know what are your priorities for this year - specifically in terms of economic policy and privatisation?
A: For those well-known facts and plans, I will not make mention. What I will be discussing in this interview are the ideas, which only I, being the President, could provide you with.

It was asked what was the subject for drastic change during my rule. However, I would like to point out that those changes made are not made solely by me. As the President I have enough authorities, but everything that was made, was made not only by me but also by the Government and large team of experts.

I am frequently asked what was in the basis of drastic changes during my rule.
As far as the political aspect is concerned, I have to make it absolutely clear that when the USSR fell apart, we practically had no developed political and governmental institutions as such. The things that form the basis of any state. We did not have government functionality, there were no independent foreign policy, developed monetary system and economic policy.

Q: And do you think that the transformations in the political sphere were the biggest challenge?
A: I would like to point out that we were facing the challenge of creating an independent state, the government and economic institutes from scratch. And I have to say that we did, indeed, succeed. We did it during the toughest time for Belarus. Maybe not in the best possible way from the outsider's point of view, but certainly the best we could according to how we understood it then, understand it now, and according to existing circumstances. We didn't just have to make a number of reforms, we had to establish a government system for a brand new independent state.

I want to point out that we built our political and economic system while bearing in mind that we are located in the center of Europe and we are a European country. Our political system hardly differs much, say, from the one existing in the European states, including Great Britain.

As far as our economic system in concerned, we did have the remains of the system from the USSR. And I would like to point out that this economic system was highly technological, highly scientific, designed for the development of the end product. These are, basically a processing industry, highly developed agriculture - the branches designed for the development of the end product.

I would also like to mention, in support of my previous statement, that all of our factories were built immediately after the Second World War. That means that for most of them the technology was from the Fifties and Sixties. Those factories were built using the latest innovations in technology and science - and, of course, are modernised every year to keep them up-to-date. Therefore, those factories are competitive, so we do not plan to promptly privatise them, because they are highly productive. They can work effectively being state-run factories, and make competitive products.

We do not have a massive privatisation plan as they did in Russia. We are performing individual ones. We study every offer made by foreign and home investors and then we decide what actions we are going to undertake depending on our interests and other economic factors, which lie within the offer. Whether it is auctioned, sold outright, or shares are issued depends on all these issues. This is a step-by-step privatisation.

Q: As far as I know, there was a forum on foreign investment taking place in Minsk at the end of November. I also understand that it was very successful, that many more people attended than planned - so, obviously, the interest of foreign investors is there. Where do you think are the biggest opportunities for foreign investors in Belarus?
A: You do realise that all the interest shown by foreign investors in industry, agriculture is of substantial importance for us. As far as foreign investors are concerned, their main interest lie in oil refineries, ore extractions, petrochemical and the milled timber industries. We are interested in undergoing privatisation in all sectors of the economy. For instance, in the construction sector, we are interested in shareholding and privatisation of enterprises producing building materials. We are also interested in building of new, profitable factories. We do not have any restrictions here - quite the opposite in fact. Such investors receive a strong governmental endorsement.

Q: You may be very well aware of the fact that the UK is the biggest direct foreign investor in the world. Could you picture the UK being a particularly interesting source for investing?
A: It is true that Great Britain is one of the most important economic partners that we could have. In the last few years we have achieved the highest gross income in our trade balance with Great Britain. The dynamic of the trade relations with Great Britain is so high, that none of the other European Union countries would register. We are interested in direct investment from all over the world, but I do have a feeling that we can quickly come to the agreement with Great Britain. Germany and Russia have their interests in Belarus, Great Britain is close to Germany but invests in Belarus 12 times less. Germany has 12 per cent in the share of foreign investment in Belarus while Great Britain has only 1 per cent. I can't see a reason why Great Britain could not invest in Belarus.

Belarus is a lucrative country due to its strategic and geopolitical location. It is situated on the crossroads of international trade and transport routs. That is why I am still convinced that such a powerful country like Great Britain will have a substantial interest in Belarus. I invite British investors here for talks.

Q: Now Mr. President perhaps, on a final note, you could outline your vision for Belarus? Especially, obviously, keeping in mind the important strategic location of Belarus between Russia and Europe?
A:You actually answered your own question. Our prospects in geo-political sense are the base for our economic power today. It's been God's will for our geographic location, and we do understand the responsibility that lies ahead of us as far as Russia and Europe are concerned in terms of providing safety for transit goods in both directions. We are a corridor for automobile transport, pipes, etc.

In Belarus, and this is very important, we have absolutely stable and peaceful atmosphere; we are not subject to religious and national warfare. With that stability we create the future of Europe. I believe that you are aware that, if in our country we had problems like those that I just mentioned, it would be a direct threat to the stability of Europe. Sometimes, when other countries accuse us that we do not have a full democracy, or that our internal situation does not meet the standards of the European Union, we tend to give the following answer: we don't have wars and we don't have people killed here. The situation here is more safe then it is in Germany and Great Britain. Isn't it a contribution to the stability of Europe?

Q: Thank you very much, Mr. President.
A: Thank you very much too. I would still like to say that the only thing that Belarus lacks is the truth being told abroad about our country. I also hope that this interview will be broadcast and people will be able to read it and be interested in co-operation with us.