Officials Accidentally Give Away That Lukashenka Left In Lurch By Uzbekistan
- 19.02.2024, 14:45
The dictator made himself look like a simpleton during his latest visit to Tashkent.
On February 14, the Baranavichy Cotton Production Association (BCPA) was taken over by the Vorsha Flax Factory. Chairman of Belliahpram Concern Tatsiana Luhina said that the decision on the actual liquidation of the former textile giant had been agreed with Aliaksandr Lukashenka, writes udf.
The official also said that Belarusian home textiles "should not yield to such giants in the production of similar products, such as China and Uzbekistan".
With such statements, Tatsiana Luhina gave away the fact that even Central Asian countries don't reckon with Aliaksandr Lukashenka.
Mirziyeev Did Not Listen To Lukashenka
The fact is that the decision about joining the BCPA to the Vorsha Flax Factory came into force just a few days after the end of the dictator's visit to Uzbekistan.
And back in 2018, during his previous visit to Tashkent, Lukashenka tried to save the BCPA with the help of the Uzbeks. In Soviet times, the Baranavichy enterprise received cotton at throwaway prices from there, therefore during his previous visit, Lukashenka was begging his colleague Shavkat Mirziyoyev for support.
"We will cultivate cotton here, process it in Belarus and sell it in markets where cotton is not cultivated. We have technologies, people, we have preserved the school and production. As for raw materials, let's negotiate.... I will tell you a secret: I do not mind if you enter the capital of our enterprises. It will be your enterprise too. And we will sell the best fabrics on the European market," Lukashenka said in Tashkent in 2018.
Moreover, at the same time, the parties signed a memorandum of co-operation between the BCPA and the Asaka Joint-Stock Commercial Bank and the Bukhara Region Hokimiyat to implement the Pesh Tex Invest LLC project on the construction of spinning, weaving and finishing factories in Peshkun district of Bukhara Region, as well as a contract between the BCPA and BAHT-TEXTILE LLC for the supply of cotton yarn worth $1.5 million.
However, in reality it turned out that these were only ritual actions on the part of the Uzbek leadership - they never responded to Lukashenka's request, and the BCPA had to die as a separate enterprise.
Lukashenka Made Himself Look Like A Simpleton During His Last Visit To Tashkent
However, that is not all. The above story also obviously suggests that Lukashenka's statements about establishing joint ventures made during his last visit to Tashkent mean nothing to the Uzbek leadership.
At the politician's behest, Agriculture and Food Minister Siarhei Bartosh said that Belarus would build a poultry farm in Tashkent and a dairy plant in Samarkand. The official also said that the finished products could enter the markets of third countries.
Lukashenka was saying very similar things during his visit in 2018.
"We are very interested in Uzbek brothers to help us co-operate with Afghanistan. But we don't want to go there alone, we want to come there with you with our products. Therefore, while creating products in Uzbekistan, including complex, machine-building products, let's go together and help the Afghans," the dictator stated.
Almost 6 years have passed and nothing of the sort has happened, but Lukashenka pretended in Tashkent that he had forgotten about the content of the talks during his previous visit. Today the politician obviously lacks credibility in the eyes of the Uzbek leadership, but Lukashenka, apparently, has become so desperate of finding a substitute for the European market for Belarusian products that he sees prospects and hope where there are none.