«They turned off the lights for 15 minutes — oh my God, they compared it to Ukraine». Lukashenka explained how much is saved on street lighting

Photo: Evgenia Novozhenina Pool Photo via AP

Alexander Lukashenka, during a meeting with government leadership, spoke about changes to the street lighting regime, writes BelTA.

Lukashenka stated that turning off street lighting for a short period yields significant savings.

«Kukharau [Chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee] turned off the lights 15 minutes, or even 10 minutes, earlier — oh my God, they compared it to Ukraine! Ten minutes! But no one calculated that these 10-15 minutes, as Vladimir Evgenievich says, over a year are worth three dairy complexes and seven prophylactic centers for calves, as it is fashionable to say now.

But most importantly: from February 1 (I signed a decree) — pension increases. Even if it's a small increase, by 10%, pensions for retirees have been raised under these conditions. If you take this saving (on street lighting) over a year, it practically is this increase. One can endure ten minutes,» said Lukashenka.

He believes that it wasn't people who were outraged by the lack of lighting, but rather the «fugitives» who are deliberately stirring up the topic.

«I think, where did this topic come from? It's an IPSO [information-psychological special operation] by the fugitives. They threw it in from there. From space. And they compared it to Ukraine. How can they compare us, a "totalitarian" state, with "democratic" Ukraine?!

But, if there's another IPSO like this, on one hand, and on the other hand — three dairy complexes and seven prophylactic centers or a 10% annual increase for pensioners — I would still agree to these 10-15 minutes».

Alexander Lukashenka believes that in large cities like Minsk, there are enough additional sources of lighting besides streetlights, including light from buildings, residential homes, and shop windows. Therefore, according to him, it is difficult to understand how someone supposedly was forced to move around the capital «by touch» (this word was given in Belarusian) or had difficulty orienting themselves in space.

He also recounted that he personally checked early in the morning before the meeting how much light there was on the street at different times:

«Once at the window, a second time, I went out into the street — well, when can you really turn off the lights?»

«I must give credit where it's due: finally, the governor of Minsk region turned off the lights in the villages around the president's village. Thank you,» noted Alexander Lukashenka.

It should be noted that on Wednesday, turning on city lighting an hour later than usual caused outrage on social media, and yesterday the lights were turned on almost at the usual time.

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