Plenums of the CPSU Central Committee on Agriculture Were as Useless for the Soviet Union as President's Instructions Are Now, Zlotnikau Says

The collective farm system has shown its inconsistency.

Lukashenka has set tasks for the harvesting campaign, zautra.by writes.

- It is expected that the gross harvest may be higher than last year. We have to harvest 9.5 million tons of rapeseed, corn, spiked cereals, buckwheat and millet. It's the bottom! the dictator stated yesterday declared during the meeting.

Will these instructions help to harvest without losses?

- The next pump may increase efficiency by less than a per cent," Leanid Zlotnikau, PhD in Economics, presumes. - There are no such "orders" in the private economy, where people are interested in the result. Since our conditions differ, there will be losses.

The economist believes that the head of state cannot but put pressure on the industry, as he believes that the harder the pressure, the better the results will be.

- But only specific managers can demand. Some people realise what should be changed, while others believe that the collective farm system should remain," the economist adds.

He believes that the existing agricultural system of Belarus is inefficient, while most of the instructions of the authorities are simply ill-timed.

The expert notes that the agrarian towns, built by the order of the ruler, have detached ordinary people from this industry.

- Sometimes, it takes more than 20 kilometres to get people to their workplace. Mechanised brigades operate under prescriptions, not based on interest in efficiency," the economist emphasizes.

Leanid Zlotnikau notes that agriculture plays an important role in the national economy.

- Lands of good quality can provide cheaper food than imported ones. But it won't help in Belarus. Everything depends not on the quality of land, but on the quality of the economic system," the expert believes.

According to him, the export of domestic agricultural products is unprofitable, while the export of dairy products is loss-making. Although Belarus produces more milk than Russia. Our country ranks fourth and fifth in the world in exports of butter, cheese and other dairy products.

Leanid Zlotnikau recalls that more than 10 years ago, former Minister of Agriculture of Belarus Leanid Rusak doubted the need to spend huge sums of money on dairy farms and spoke out about the losses associated with the production of butter and beef.

- Agriculture is always inefficient in the country, where the state has the upper hand. Plenums of the CPSU Central Committee on Agriculture were as useless for the Soviet Union as president's instructions are now," Leanid Zlotnikau stresses.