TOLOCHIN REGION, 20 August (BelTA) – President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has no intention of abandoning personal control over the situation in the countryside. The President made the relevant statement during his working trip to the Vitebsk oblast on 20 August, BelTA has learnt. “If one wants to effectively run the system, one has to know how its subsystems operate, the agriculture in this case. If the constitution gives such an authority to a president, who doesn’t know how peasants live, such a president is not worth a lot,” said Alexander Lukashenko. “I need to see the situation personally out in the field, talking to mechanics, scientists, executives and discussing how the agriculture should be developed,” he added. According to the President, all the efforts are meant to define the strategy for the future development of rural areas. The head of state underscored that problems emerge sometimes. “For instance, they say we are potato lovers, but our situation with potato is not the same it used to be. This year we will complete working out a special programme, we will define how much potato will be sold on the home market and abroad. But we will return this crop that is so precious to us. It is profitable and promising,” stressed Alexander Lukashenko. Speaking about fruit farming development in the country, the President remarked: “Good gardens have been planted. What’s next? It turns out we have forgotten that processing and storage is the key”. Alexander Lukashenko gave an instruction to step up the construction of vegetable stores. “It means it is important to visit these places, to deal with things, therefore one should not get away from peasants,” concluded the head of state.

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