26 June 2001
Lukashenko threatens to sack industry minister and Brest Electrical Equipment Factory director
"I did not expect to find so many problems in Brest's industry," Belarus' chief of state, Aleksandr Lukashenko, said during his visit to Brest on June 25 after meeting managers of local industrial enterprises.
He threatened to sack the industry minister and the Brest Electrical Equipment Factory director if the latter fails to raise wages and create new jobs before the end of the year. Mr. Lukashenko said that Brest's hosiery factory and the Kovry Bresta carpet maker could have performed better. He noted welcome trends in the performance of the Tsvetotron electronic factory and the Electric Bulb Factory, which he visited after seeing an exhibition of the city's industrial products.
The Electric Bulb Factory manufactures bulbs, car lights, halogen lamps, light-diffusing screens and luminaires. The factory sells its products to the Baltics, Russia and Ukraine. Its output rose 14.7 percent and exports 62.5 percent to $1.8 million in the first four months of the year compared with the same period in 2000. Mr. Lukashenko said the government would give the Electric Bulb Factory loans for modernization.
http://brestonline.com/en/news/news20.html