Authorities Are Going To Run Into Same Trap

How will Lukashenka's proposal to the Uzbek authorities to work together on cotton pan out?

– The main result of our talks, I want government officials, responsible people from both sides to hear this: we agreed that we have no closed issues in Belarus, not only for discussion, but for further actions. If our Uzbek brothers see the right thing in Belarus, it will be done immediately: either the production will be moved to your territory, or we will create a joint venture," – Aliaksandr Lukashenka said in Tashkent.

Belarus’ governor offered the Uzbek authorities to work together on cotton:

– We will cultivate cotton here, process it in Belarus and sell it in the markets where cotton is not cultivated. We have technology, people, we still have the school, production. The raw material – let's find common ground. Let’s create this together. I will open the secret: I do not mind if you acquire a share in the capital of our enterprises. It will be your enterprise as well. And we will sell the best fabrics in the European market.

Speaking about the availability of production in Belarus, Lukashenka probably had in mind Baranavichy Blakit. The very same Blakit, which the authorities have been saving for three decades.

For the first time, the dictator visited the enterprise in 1994. At that time it was idle because of the lack of cotton, the workers were left without the salary. During that visit, Lukashenka promised to agree with Uzbekistan on the supply of raw materials and allocate money from the budget.

Tens of millions of euros were invested into the company. They tried to bring workers from Bangladesh, promising them big salaries. As a result, the guest workers fled, having not got the promised thousand dollars.

And here's a new twist. Can our "Uzbek brothers" bring Baranavichy Blakit to Europe? And not so much the example of the guests from Bangladesh makes us doubt the success of the next authorities’ initiative, as the decades of unsuccessful attempts to keep the Soviet industrial heritage afloat.

Kiryl Ivanou, Salidarnasts