Belarusian semiconductor maker Integral in for re-adjustment
MINSK, 13 November (BelTA) – President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has given an instruction to find those guilty of the failure of the Belarusian semiconductor company Integral to launch submicron technology manufacturing and to straighten out the situation. The head of state set the task as he visited the Minsk-based manufacturing corporation Integral on 13 November. Alexander Lukashenko was supposed to get familiar with the progress in implementing a project for launching submicron technology manufacturing in Belarus, BelTA has learned.
Alexander Lukashenko said that Integral will not get extra funding from the government. “We could have used the money to set up a new enterprise. I am dissatisfied with the present running of the company,” said the President.
Alexander Lukashenko was displeased with the lack of an outcome from government investments. The company was supposed to have implemented three main projects relating to submicron technology manufacturing. At present the main project codenamed Submicron K has stalled. The company owes around Br300 billion to the government and creditors. The head of state said that government funds or loans will not be used to sustain any enterprise. “There will be no more money!” he said.
Head of the Integral company Vitaly Solodukha remarked that time is needed to polish the technology and reach the designed output capacity. The new production facility may reach the planned output capacity by the end of 2010, he said.
Belarus First Vice Premier Vladimir Semashko told the head of state that the enterprise has started manufacturing five products and plans to start making another 20 by late 2010. The project will be self-supporting after that. To mend the situation, the government suggests giving the company the status of a high-tech park, converting it into a joint-stock company and providing additional funding for the sake of reaching the planned performance by the end of next year. The President declined the idea saying “I am not ready to sell the company, nor ready to reincorporate it as a joint-stock company. Seek money wherever you wish. You will not get budget funding and will pay taxes in full”.
Alexander Lukashenko instructed law enforcement agencies, the State Control Committee, the Belarus President Administration to find those guilty of the ineffective use of the funds and the failure to deliver on time. The President also instructed to examine the spending of government funds at every Belarusian enterprise. The Shklov paper mill and Grodno Azot are next on the list.
Alexander Lukashenko assigned Belarus First Vice Premier Vladimir Semashko to straighten out the situation and make the guilty ones responsible, including former management of the company.
“I need working money there. The enterprise should be preserved and should operate in the black,” concluded the President.
