MINSK, 16 December (BelTA) – President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has ordered to cut the 2012 budget of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) by 25-30%. The Belarusian leader made this statement at a plenary seminar for government officials to discuss import substitution on 16 December, BelTA has learnt. “In attendance are MPs; they are set to approve the budget soon. Next year the budget of the Academy of Sciences should be cut against this year. They work on their own, they make good money; we need to take them away from the “feed box” little by little. “We need to cut the budget. Maybe, not by half, but by 25-30%. As long as we subsidize scientists and others, like manufacturers, as long as we give them money out of the budget, gratuitous money, they will do nothing. I have not said anything new. Such is life,” Alexander Lukashenko underlined. The President noted that the most important task now is to involve the scientific community into the import substitution program. “If you do that – we will help you, if you do not – do not count on government support,” the Belarusian leader said.

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