Addressing Roman Golovchenko, recently appointed Chairman of the Board of the National Bank after serving as the country’s prime minister, the head of state emphasized his expectation for a balanced, objective assessment of the overall economic situation. “I wouldn’t say you’re completely uninvolved now, but you do have somewhat of an outside perspective. As an experienced professional, your evaluation of Belarus’ current economic situation is particularly valuable. You need to tell me what requires our primary attention – that’s the most important thing,” the president remarked. 

“And secondly. As I already warned the head of the Belarus President Administration, today’s meeting and your report on the situation in the country, particularly in banking and finance, doesn’t mean I won’t convene another meeting with specialists and heads of our banks – primarily the National Bank – to once and for all clearly declare what policy we’ll pursue in the near future and what my position is regarding the National Bank and related matters,” the head of state added.

According to him, one aspect requiring further clarification is the appointment of Roman Golovchenko as head of the National Bank. “Many are ranting about this – especially the self-exiled opposition – saying ‘he’s not an expert, yet he was appointed to run the bank’ and so on. We must address all these questions,” the president stated.

Regarding Roman Golovchenko’s performance as Chairman of the Board of the National Bank, the head of state noted that his actions, decisions, and the overall state of banking affairs undergo regular expert evaluation. “The specialists are watching you too,” Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked.

Special attention was given to the growth of aggregate banking profits nationwide. While this could be viewed as a positive indicator on one hand, concerns exist about potential economic imbalances should banks excessively withdraw liquidity from circulation. “To be honest, I’m not entirely certain whether this is good or bad. When you served as prime minister, you argued it was harmful that banks were withdrawing capital from circulation.”

“It’s certainly good,” Roman Golovchenko assured. “We’ve implemented a government mechanism to redirect a portion of banking profits into financing the economy.”

“This is critically important,” emphasized Aleksandr Lukashenko. “Banks shouldn’t have ’excess’ money. After all, their profits ultimately come from those who deposit funds there – this is fundamentally how it works. Therefore, I strongly expect this principle to be maintained. The economy must grow, and the banking system must actively facilitate economic growth.”

The president raised the question regarding further actions concerning cryptocurrency and the cryptocurrency market.

“Crypto market, cryptocurrency... What is it and how are we going to proceed with it?” the head of state asked addressing Roman Golovchenko. “How can we use it, especially now, to facilitate payments? There has been a lot of talk about this, yet Belarus’ cryptocurrency market remains underdeveloped. What will our next steps be?”

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that this topic had been discussed earlier with ex-chairman Pavel Kallaur. “We raised this issue before. IT specialists approached us, saying we should take action in this direction. So, how will we proceed? This is important for me and for the country,” the president said.

The head of state also asked about cross-border payments under sanctions (there are indications their volume may be decreasing). Discussions touched on inflation, which has accelerated slightly though remains manageable. The president asked what regulatory measures the National Bank considers necessary to prevent becoming trapped in an inescapable situation.

The head of state also discussed the status and composition of gold and foreign currency reserves, as their volumes have recently increased. “However, we must keep in mind that prices for gold went up,” the president said naming it one of the factors behind the reserve growth. “Gold was not the only factor, Aleksandr Grigoryevich,” Roman Golovchenko clarified.

He reported on the implementation of objectives outlined by the head of state during personnel appointments. Roman Golovchenko also provided an overview of the banking system and broader financial market situation. “Naturally, following my appointment, I had to begin by addressing discipline, accountability, and establishing new operational frameworks for the banking sector. The banking institutions have been communicated a fundamental principle: there are no good or bad banks. Such subjectivity doesn’t exist. There are banks that fulfill their objectives and those that don’t. The evaluation criterion is singular: results,” he emphasized.

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