Lukashenko Is Left Without Money

• 2.05.2026, 15:36

Russian problems become Belarusian problems.

For the first time in recent years, the Russian economy showed a quarter-on-quarter decline. The Russian Ministry of Finance has exceeded its budget deficit target for three months. Russian ports and refineries are burning, leveling the effects of rising oil prices. Russian problems become Belarusian problems with a lag of three or four months. So, looking at what is happening with Russia, the Belarusian authorities see the near future of the Belarusian economy. And they obviously don't like it.

About Lukashenko's transition to the New Economic Policy - in the new issue of the program "Optimum" on the YouTube channel "Belarusians and the market".

We need to get cheaper

On Friday, April 24, Alexander Lukashenko went on a big tour of Gomel region. In four days he visited Mozyr, Petrikov and Narovlya districts. It would seem to be an ordinary trip, an ordinary set of attractions. A prosperous farm, a not so prosperous farm, a cowshed, a hospital. Nothing special. Not much to talk about. But if you look more closely, one difference catches your eye. On this trip, a characteristic refrain appeared: There is no money. We must save money.

"Expensive. We have to try to get cheaper. We need to come up with a scheme to make them gnaw on the price," said Lukashenko during his visit to the Budka dairy complex in Narovlya district on Monday, April 27.

But he liked the complex. The complex turned out to be outstanding, and it was built by the farm with its own money. They did not ask Lukashenko for money. That is, they had the right to build whatever they wanted. But Lukashenko said that if someone had extra money, this money could have been spent on something more useful.

"We could have saved money for other projects," Lukashenko complained.

Lukashenko did not specify which projects they could have saved money for. Because it seems that he's going to save money on literally everything. Until recently, the program "One district - one project" was a source of special pride for the Belarusian authorities. Officials did not miss an opportunity to boast.

It was also an opportunity for the districts to build something necessary for the state money. However, it was not always necessary. Sometimes they built just to build.

"Everyone thought there would be crazy money," said Lukashenko during his visit to Mozyr district on April 24.

And what money there was...

And they thought not in vain. The money was really, one could say, a lot of money. The total value of these investment applications is 9 billion rubles. As of the end of last year, 98 out of 220 planned projects were completed in 88 districts.

But who did not have time - he was too late. Because the state priorities have suddenly changed.

"It is necessary to take a reasonable approach. Maybe in some neighborhoods we don't need this project. Not everywhere there are free labor resources for it. And the creation of appropriate infrastructure to attract them will require additional investments," said Lukashenko.

That is, Lukashenko suddenly had an epiphany. Because not so long ago nobody cared about such trifles as labor resources and "appropriate infrastructure". In the last program I told you how we built mass agro-towns where there was not only infrastructure, where there was no work for people. Hundreds of houses stood empty, because people simply did not go there. And suddenly we hear arguments that, as it turns out, not all state programs are equally useful.

While in early February the same Lukashenko said how we need to build calf preventoriums all over the country. Five hundred of them by October for tens of millions of rubles.

But two months have passed, and it turns out that there is no need to hurry. We can't afford the palaces that Lukashenko promised to the calves.

"We shouldn't build with excesses. Why build twice as expensive?", - said Lukashenko when he inspected the new health center in "Agro-Laskovichi".

The health center was built in a rich way. It was made of metal structures for 810 thousand rubles. Instead of metal structures Lukashenko advised to use the wood that rots on the forest edges.

"Make a calf house, it will stand for 20% less time than this one - we'll build a new one. Maybe we'll get rich."

NEP 2.0

But so far the prospect of getting rich does not seem to be visible. And if one has to save even on calves, then God himself should save on Belarusians. During his visit to the same Petrikov district, Lukashenko also expressed his dissatisfaction that treatment of Belarusians costs him too much.

"We need to sort it out so that we don't spend extra money. I'm not in favor of closing FAPs, district hospitals. But we need to look where we need to look," he said.

So when Lukashenko ordered to cut off the lights to Belarusians in early February, it was just the first swallow of the NEP. A new economic policy. Not to be confused with the new economic policy. Because the abbreviation is the same, but the meaning is quite different.