Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has instructed the government to accelerate road construction projects, citing the opportunity presented by falling oil prices.
He made the remarks while appointing a new deputy prime minister responsible for construction, transport, and housing and utilities, Caliber.Az reports, citing Belarusian media.
“This spike [in oil prices] was due to the chaos in the Middle East. But I think we will stabilise,” Lukashenko said.
He noted that they still trade oil with Russia at a certain discount, and roads rely primarily on bitumen, which comes from oil.
“We have everything else,” the President added.
The Belarusian leader emphasised that roads are vital for Belarus as a transit hub.
He made it clear that if concrete highways cannot be built, bitumen should be used, taking advantage of the next year-to-year and a half of lower oil prices.
A well-developed road network, he stressed, is essential given Belarus’s strategic transit role.
By Bakhtiyar Abbasov
