On April 21, following the tradition, the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, took part in the nation-wide day of voluntary work (subbotnik).

As a rule, the Head of State works on construction sites of the facilities which are nationally important – he had taken part in the reconstruction of the Khatyn memorial complex, in the erection of the new building of the National Library of Belarus. This year, and a year before, the President was working on the construction site of the multifield cultural and sports complex “Minsk-Arena.”

The complex will comprise a sports and performance arena that will be able to house 15 thousand spectators and where it will be possible to hold competitions in more than 20 kinds of sport, an ice skating stadium for three thousand seats, a cycling ground for two thousand seats, and also a parking place and a parking lot for two thousand vehicles. Currently, the work is progressing ahead of schedule. It is expected that the construction of the complex will have been completed at the end of 2008.

After completion of the work, the Head of State met with reporters and answered their questions.

Specifically, the President said that the construction of large facilities of national importance, like the Minsk-Arena complex, would be continued in Belarus. “The conditions become more complicated, one has to pay more, but we have enough reserves that make it possible to compensate twice the amount of that price rise by better organization and reduction of the construction costs,” Alexander Lukashenko explained.

Commenting on the results of his recent visit to Oman and India, Alexander Lukashenko pointed out that in Oman the Belarusian delegation became acquainted with the potentialities of that country and identified the long-term avenues of bilateral cooperation. As regards India, Alexander Lukashenko underscored that “this is a colossal country and an enormous market.” In his words, India is prepared for a serious presence of Belarus in its market. A clear indication of that is the proposal by the Indian leaders to increase the trade turnover with our country up to US$ 500 million by the year 2010.

The media representatives were also keen to know why the agreements with some countries on drawing investments had not always been duly materialized. Replying to the question, the Head of State said: “Investments are not the main things today, the main things are projects.”

He explained that foreign investors often propose the projects whose terms are not suitable for our state, for instance, projects without paying taxes. Another reason behind the failure to materialize some projects is sluggishness and bureaucratism of Belarusian officials.