May 5, President oif Belarus Alexander Lukashenko criticized performance of Belarusian hockey players at the World Championship. "Such a shame is unacceptable. And it's not just hockey. It's simply hard to pay more attention to this sport than we've already paid," he said during the meeting on the issue of state physical education.
«But everything goes the other way round: the more attention, the more disgraceful and disgusting performance of the athletes is,» BelTA quoted the Belarusian leader.
Alexander Lukashenko asked all the present at the event to «draw the appropriate conclusions.»
Sport should be Removed from Budget Needle, Lukashenko
«I think the time has come for us to change the system of state support for sports to stimulate the initiative and enterprise, rather than dependency. It’s unacceptable to fatten at public expense. Invested funds should provide adequate return,» said the head of the country.
According to Alexander Lukashenko, effectiveness of the system of state physical education and sport has long been under question.
«Every year we, in spite of any difficulties, allocate huge amounts of money for sports development. And there’s an appropriate background to speak on this topic today. We actively build modern facilities, finance the activities of sports clubs from the budget, strain our real sector in every possible way to help clubs and teams,» he said.
The President added that Belarus «counts every ruble today,» but funds for the development of sports facilities are taken out of economic circulation. This, in his opinion, «badly affects the overall pace of development.» «But we go on this, because we understand the importance of physical culture and sports,» said Alexander Lukashenko.
He wants to strengthen the spirit of the people, to train Belarusians patriots by means of achievements of the country’s athletes. According to the president, athletic victories make the population pride in the country, while the defeat is quite depressing. «Therefore, supporting the sport, we are entitled to ask for the results, as well as the rational use of budgetary funds and assistance from businesses. Extravagance and uncontrolled money waste should not be allowed here. The time imposes stringent requirements on all of us: one must live within one’s means,» warned the head of state.
There will be No «Bazaar,» Lukashenko
Alexander Lukashenko pointed out that he’d previously supported a variety of sports, including games. «And this year I’ve been given again a draft of the instrument of their renewal. I have not signed these documents, because there will no longer be «bazaar» in sports, he said.
«I have received information that the government support often falls into the pockets of individual managers of clubs in the form of unreasonably large salaries and bonuses, but does not work on athletic performance. Budget funds are wasted by inflating the bureaucracy in organizations,» said the head of state.
Learn from Foreign Clubs, how to Make Money, Lukashenko
Alexander Lukashenko warned a year ago that the inefficient use of resources was unacceptable and demanded to restore order, but according to him, «they didn’t take any lessons from this conversation.»
«While considering the submitted draft documents, it is easy to see that they all meet at one point: give me the money. They say, foreign clubs have millions of dollars on their accounts as well as huge profits for the athletes, so why should we be different?» I do not want to go into polemics, but note: foreign clubs do not use the state budget, but extract resources through effectiveness. If there is no result, then they become insolvent and burn through, as any commercial enterprise. One should learn from them not how to spend all, but how to make money, » he concluded.
