During his visit to the Budki dairy complex at the Krinichnaya experimental agricultural enterprise, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko set the task of lowering the cost of building dairy complexes, BelTA has learned.
After getting familiar with how work is organized at the dairy farm, results of their work, and future development plans, the head of state stated: “Expensive. We need to find ways to make it cheaper.”
“Certainly, a very expensive complex. A luxury complex. We cannot build like this one everywhere. But naturally it has to produce results,” the president concluded.
The dairy complex is not a good fit for mass replication across the country. Chairman of the Gomel Oblast Executive Committee Ivan Krupko agreed with that. In his words, in the course of making plans for building more dairy complexes in the region they are adjusting the designs in order to optimize them and get rid of all the excessive features. “It is never too late to learn. We correct every complex. We make [use] more concrete,” he clarified. “It is a design of the year 2020. We’ve fully implemented it. We are having discussions at the level of the government, the ministry. We are working out measures and getting rid of everything we can remove.”
“You have to be frugal,” the head of state stressed. “We need to come up with a scheme that would make them fight tooth and nail to bring down the cost.”
Some argue that agricultural enterprises build facilities with their own money and have the right to choose options. But the state subsidizes agriculture, the president pointed out. “We could save money for other projects,” he emphasized.
The Budki dairy farm, which the head of state visited, was commissioned in 2024. The farm has 927 head of cattle, including 600 dairy cows. At the same time the farm is designed for more than 3,100 head of cattle, including 1,200 dairy cows. As the head of state was informed, once the farm reaches full capacity, it is expected to sell about 40 tonnes of milk per day.
In the future a cattle fattening camp is supposed to be built at the experimental agricultural enterprise. It is a specially equipped area used during the warm season for keeping, feeding, and milking animals on or near pastures.
Ivan Krupko reported to the president that the Gomel Oblast Executive Committee had decided to build 160 calf nurseries designed to keep 26,000 calves across the region. Work has already begun on all of these facilities. “Keep in mind: calf nurseries are not a solution to all problems with livestock mortality. And veterinary medicine is also not the key thing. You need organization and a proper attitude towards the animals,” the head of state emphasized.
The president also recalled a recent instruction regarding the use of wood for building calf barns. At the same time, it is important to observe construction technologies and not spend excessive money on this. “Wood should be used. The key thing is to observe the technologies. There is no need to invent things and spend crazy money,” he added.
The Belarusian leader touched upon the topic of agriculture in these areas and spoke highly of the local farming standards. “Beyond the Pripyat River the farming standards are very high not only for the Pripyat districts but for the country as a whole. If it is like this everywhere,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
