Lukashenko on the development of unmanned systems in Belarus: this is a very big prospect for us
The development of unmanned aerial systems in Belarus holds great promise. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko stated this during his visit to an exhibition of the latest Russian drones in Minsk, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
Among the participants from the Russian side were Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Russia, and Dmitry Peskov, Special Representative of the President of Russia for Digital and Technological Development. Yuri Kozarenko, Director General of "Transport of the Future" LLC and Chairman of the "Unmanned Aerial Systems" Competence Center, gave a detailed report on the prospects of using unmanned systems in various fields.
From unmanned systems to the platform economy. Lukashenko was presented with promising areas of cooperation with Russia.
The main proposal from the Russian side is to establish a plant in Belarus for the production of unmanned aerial systems with a capacity of up to 100,000 units annually. This involves the use of a unified technological platform, which will ensure economic efficiency and simplify the production and development of new models.
According to Yuri Kozarenko, the use of drones in various fields will provide an additional GDP increase of several billion dollars. "We have digitized Belarus's parameters, we understand how many drones are needed and what the impact on GDP will be. We are saying that in the first stage, 2,000 agricultural drones will contribute up to $1 billion to GDP. This includes increased crop yields, savings - no losses when we trample crops with agricultural machinery, savings on plant protection products, and much more. And this is the digitization of all fields. This is smart agriculture," he cited as an example.
Russia proposes to build a drone production plant in Belarus
Similarly, a financial effect can be achieved by using unmanned aerial systems in logistics, for monitoring needs in various fields, and even in educational spheres.
"There is a huge number of requests from various countries. Let's fulfill these requests together," proposed Yuri Kozarenko.
"We will study this in principle," stated Alexander Lukashenko. "This is a very big prospect for us."
At the exhibition, the head of state was shown various unmanned aerial systems capable of performing a whole range of tasks, including special ones. Among the exhibits was even an artist drone, with which a world record was set - a mural was painted, measuring 300 square meters. This is the largest art object created by a drone.
In the matter of developing unmanned aerial systems, Alexander Lukashenko proposed to form a group of specialists in Belarus and send them to Russia for additional training in the most advanced areas. "So that you teach all our people who will be working, and those who wish to," he said.
The President noted that he plans to examine Belarusian specialists in April-May, who were given assignments for the development of domestic unmanned systems. Therefore, the information voiced by the Russians is very timely. "It's good that you told me about this. Now I know from whom to learn."
In conclusion, Alexander Lukashenko once again thanked the Russian side for the information provided and stated his readiness to cooperate in the construction of the plant: "We are ready to build the plant. We guarantee: you will not build it in Russia the way you will here."
"Thank you, thank you to Vladimir Vladimirovich (President of Russia Vladimir Putin. - BELTA's note) for sending his assistant and showing all of this. We know how to do some things. But I have a feeling that we are only at the first stage. Russians have made very serious progress in this direction," the President noted.
In the autumn, Russia will host a championship for unmanned systems. A team from Belarus has also been invited. "Give us the program so we can prepare. We can train people," Alexander Lukashenko replied.
Immediately before inspecting the exhibition, Alexander Lukashenko was presented with promising areas of cooperation with Russia. This was detailed by Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Russia. There are many areas, and they concern not only drones. The discussion also included the platform economy and data economy, the introduction of digital currencies, auto tourism, the development of railway transport, the sphere of industrial robots, in-depth training of engineering personnel, and the digitalization of education and healthcare.
"What you said about medicine, about healthcare, is already being implemented. Perhaps you were spurred on by the fact that Russia is huge. Everything is compact here. Everything you talked about, we have achieved within a single hospital," the head of state noted. "The connection of doctors - the center and regional centers, the hospital - is not a problem, we have it. But to link all of this together, as is done in Moscow, is very important, and we need to do it."