On 23 December 2012 President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko held a press conference for Belarusian and foreign mass media. Partaking in the conference were 400 reporters, representing over 300 local and foreign mass media.

The President answered about 50 questions of reporters regarding social and economic development of the country, separate industries, home and foreign policy of Belarus, various aspects of relations with Russia, the European Union, other countries and regions. The head of state also shared his view on the situation in the world.

He agenda of the conference included:

The results of the year 2011 and forecasts for the forthcoming year

I would not like another year like that to repeat in the history of our country. It was a very difficult year.

In the year 2011 the prices for raw materials, components, hydrocarbon resources turned out to be the highest on record in the history of Belarus. The next year will be much easier.

The next year is expected to be even better in all economic development parameters than the very best years when our lives went well. But the question arises: why did all that happen this year? We have already answered this question. We did not have enough money to pay for raw materials. There were some errors regarding the money supply, certain problems with car import. It cost about $2 billion. Experts believe we wasted even more in one go. Therefore, the financial market had to experience the situation that we are now slowly recovering from. What is going on in the economy and finance gives us hope for a better future in the next year.

I think you have already got familiar with our development priorities for the next year. We expect that the GDP will increase by 5-6%.

We do not have to be upset a lot about this year. The GDP will grow by 7%, maybe slightly more than that. With these difficulties it is a very good indicator and few countries have a GDP growth like that. You must understand that we have achieved it not through higher prices for energy resources but thanks to the production sector.

Summing up results of the public and political life, we must say that the year was not easy either. After the presidential election we had to deal with certain complaints in all areas. Not the president we wanted, does not look the way we want it, wasn’t elected the way we wanted, not the number of people voted the way we wanted… Consequences of 19 December 2010, the day when some overlords and citizens tried to unconstitutionally institute some kind of a regime they wanted… You know how ties with the European Union, the United States went. Initially we had complicated relations with the Russian Federation, too, but recent events indicate we have managed to resolve many problems.

I reiterate that the year was not easy. It was complicated. We should blame ourselves. It is history and cannot be avoided. We have learned a good lesson for the future. We have to live within our means. If we want to live well, we should work more. It is an axiom. We have understood where our policy should be corrected, where attention should be paid to prevent such things from happening again.

On key events:

The terrorist attack is an extraordinary event, it overshadows all other things.

As far as foreign policy is concerned, the breakthrough of Belarus in integration projects is one of the most important events of 2011. I do not overestimate the events in the CIS which were of a rather protocol character. We have made a serious breakthrough in the EurAsEC – an organization which is disappearing, and is no longer needed in Kazakhstan and Russia, because it has fulfilled its function – has brought us through the Customs Union to the Single Economic Space by 1 January.

Another important event is Russia's joining the WTO. 170 million people are in the Single Economic Space. It is important to cooperate with them.

I would also like to highlight some facts within the framework of the Belarus-Russia Union State. Judging by our financial, economic agreements we may say that the forthcoming year will be rather good.

Talking about other events, it is important to say a few words about the Arab Spring that has changed the situation in the world. I keep saying “there is worse to come!” The outcome is very far-reaching. The process has somewhat slowed down in Syria, maybe for the better. I hope Syria will withstand in this situation.

They say that Turkey wants to use this situation to create a new empire. Americans are reproached for being the ideologists of this revolution carried out by the NATO block. Perhaps, our "fifth column" will agree with these ideas.

Fierce fight for the future is going on.

Who will rule the world? It will be owned by those who will possess energy resources. Thus, the fight for energy resources is going on. And it will get even tougher.

On external factors

I cannot but mention the economic crisis that hit the West, and especially Europe. We – Russian, Belarusian, and Kazakh specialists – have discussed this issue very seriously. Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev uses the term – we are on the brick of a "great depression." But I hope this will not happen. But we already see the symptoms of a recession.

As a result, tough ant-governmental movement was triggered in the United States and other countries.

An important security event for Belarus was the failure of the U.S-Russia missile shield talks. It is a very important and painful event.

On positive events

There have been some good trends in the recent months. The inflow of foreign currency is on the rise. Our trade with the European Union went up 60%. The trade surplus is almost $2.5 billion.

We have posted the trade surplus with Russia. If we manage to preserve this tendency, there will be no economic, financial, social, and political problems.

On price regulation

Prices will be monitored with the help of economic methods. We have demonstrated it during the year. There will be no uncontrollable emissions. Money should be earned.

We will use all methods to keep prices under control. The government is committed to reducing the inflation to 18-19%. I am convinced that we will sole these problems.

The priority is the growth of well-being of our people. There will be no well-being if high price growth remains. Salaries should be raised. We did not use emission money to raise salaries and pensions. We raised salaries, pensions, and other allowances only if we had money.

On the threat of “economic capture”

I would like to tell those, who say we are losing independence and sovereignty and so on: we sold it to the wrong people (Beltransgaz). If I had sold it to their patrons, they would have been completely silent. Why Russia? Why not Europe, America and so on? I was guided by economic and financial profits. “We got a total of $5 billion for Beltransgaz. $5 billion for the Beltransgaz pipeline. Via this pipe Belarus received natural gas from Russia and supplied small amounts of it to Ukraine, Lithuania, Kaliningrad Oblast and Poland. What did we lose? We kept the company alive, earning pennies. By the way, transit fees were 3-5 times lower than those in Western countries. We couldn’t force Russia to pay more because you know they would force us to pay for natural gas more. It is inappropriate to say that Belarus lost leverage against Russia. Are you going to wage war on Russia? Are you going to take this pipe and swing it at Moscow, the Kremlin, at Russia? Only idiots can talk about some leverage against Russia. Russia has sufficient leverage to influence us. Only an idiot can think in military terms to resolve economic issues. We still have the pipe. They will pay even more taxes. We have received guarantees that transit via the system will increase and we will get more transit earnings. Moreover, thanks to the deal we’ve got more than $2 billion in economic effect every year.

Today’s price for the natural gas Belarus gets is $165 for 1,000 cubic meters. Are we ready to pay about $400 per 1,000 cubic meters? The year 2011 showed that $300 could drown us. Don’t criticize me. I did it for the people. It is a normal and very profitable deal for our state.

Moreover, the deal had been tied with other arrangements with the Russian Federation. In particular, it was tied with the Russian loan for building the nuclear power plant and oil prices for 2012. Oil delivery terms will be even better than in 2011. We may not have had such oil delivery terms in the last five years. You can think for yourself why Russia did that.

On "revolutions"

Dmitry Medvedev had told me that in the Russian Federation there are many alarming factors: Not only poor people, beggars and complaining people went to the rally… It is alarming that middle class people went to the rally. The Russian head of state said that the richer the society is, the higher its demands are. It would be incorrect to compare people in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square and those, who revolted in Egypt…

It is similar to the events of 19 December. A bout 3,000 people gathered near the Seat of Government. Of them 800 people deliberately knew what they had in mind while the rest are just bystanders. When the riot police entered the area, bystanders dispersed. Out of the 800 people about 400-450 ones were arrested and interrogated. You know how it went after.

N ot all the people were hired for the rally in Moscow and in Minsk. But this core of people in Minsk… They made preparations in advance. They were paid for it. Not everything was paid out… but they should find out themselves on what their superiors spent money.

On Belarus-Ukraine relations

I cannot say that things are rosy here. Economy is paramount; it propels us to adopt certain decisions in politics and social life. the trade between Belarus and Ukraine makes $6 billion. The progress is obvious. Since the Kuchma times we have had a package of agreements that included other issues we were supposed to settle. These issues will be tacked in the context of our recent agreements. I met with Viktor Yanukovych in Moscow. We agreed that we will finalize the date of our meeting soon and get back to the postponed issues in order to settle them.

On political reforms

There will be reforms and they will be in the near future. We are working on them If I hear flattering remarks, it worries me a lot. Flattering is the death for a leader. It has been and will be my policy.

On external borrowing

We are not planning any more borrowings. We are ready to negotiate a loan with the IMF because they offer acceptable interest rates of 1-2%. But we are not going to borrow under 10%, including from Sberbank of Russia. We do not have such a need today.

On the economic position of Belarus

In any state the economy must be socially oriented. Otherwise they will be experiencing what Greece, America, the whole Europe are going through now. I want Belarus to have a normal economy, with a human face. Thus, we will not give up on the socially-oriented economy.

On the relations with the EU, Poland

Our relations with the European Union are getting worse and Poland has done a lot to ruin them. We did not expect any good from the Polish Presidency in the EU and our apprehensions were fulfilled. I would not like to dwell on the issue because reporters and the public are very well familiar with it.

On the events of 19 December 2010

If someone in America took some tools and approached the White House to break down the door… First, he or she would be shot 1.5km away. But if, god forbid, they penetrated the White House, he or she would be shot with no questions asked. Why do you reproach me for protecting a government institution, for detaining the scoundrels? Besides, 20 or 25 ringleaders instead of 450 detainees were tried in an open manner. You saw what they did. A call to overthrow the government in an unconstitutional manner is enough to serve 15 years of prison time in democratic countries.