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Market ideology was "planted" in Belarus to ruin its economy, Lukashenka says

 

Market ideology was "planted" in Belarus to ruin its economy, Alyaksandr Lukashenka told a group of Russian journalists in Minsk on Tuesday.

Mr. Lukashenka stressed that it was wrong to rely on so-called market laws to solve all economic problems.

If Belarus had followed this path, it would be like Kyrgyzstan, whose poor citizens are suffering because they have nothing of their own, Mr. Lukashenka said.

Unlike Russia, Belarus decided not to break its old system, which makes it seriously different from Russia in terms of policy and practice, he said.

Mr. Lukashenka noted that whether or not the Marxist-Leninist philosophy he was taught as a history student was correct, it taught that people can make progress only of they "stand on the shoulders" of their predecessors.

"That is, you shouldn't break this predecessor or put your knee on his chest," he said. "It is necessary to stand on his shoulders, that is, use his experience. We have done this."

While reforming its economy, Belarus did not have the same opportunities as Russia, Mr. Lukashenka said. Russia can afford to break its economic system because it has natural gas, crude oil and other resources and money to plug holes, but Belarus would pay dearly for a mistake, he said.

Mr. Lukashenka defended the government's practice of setting targets and making forecasts. "What's wrong with this?" he said. "A country as economically advanced as Japan has thousands of estimates and plans." // BelaPAN