| Lukashenka Aliaksandr Ryhoravich |
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President of the Republic of Belarus
Place of birth: Settlement of Kopys village, Orsha district, Vitsyebsk region, Belarus.
Education: In 1975 graduated from the History Department of the Mahilyow Pedagogical Institute; in 1985 - from the Belarusian Agricultural Academy. Historian, economist.
Career: Worked as a teacher. Secretary of the Komsomol Committee of Shklov School No.1 (Mahilyow region).
1975 – 1977 and 1980 - 1982 – served in the frontier troops and in the Soviet Army.
After his service in the Army Aliaksandr Lukashenka worked in Komsomol and Communist party bodies, in the economic sphere - as deputy manager and manager of enterprises of industry, building materials, agroindustrial complex of the BSSR.
1987 - 1994 – Director of “Gorodets” state farm, Shklov district, Mahilyow region.
1990 - 1994 – People’s Deputy of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus of the XII convocation.
April 1993 – July 1994 - Chairman of Supreme Council Committee for Businesses under the Government.
Since 10 July 1994 – President of the Republic of Belarus.
Since 1997 – President of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus.
Honorary Academician of the Russian Academy of Social Sciences (1995).
Marital status: Married, has two sons.
Political and personal contacts: Before presidency Lukashenka didn’t represent any structured political force: he was equally opposed to the Soviet party nomenclature and democrats. Later on, the President had to rely on the representatives of old Soviet elite.
The most notable people close to Lukashenka are Viktar Shejman, Director of the Presidential Administration, and Uladzimir Kanapliow, speaker of the Chamber of Representatives.
Rating: None of the Belarusian politicians has a rating comparable to the President’s one. This is the result of the total government control over the national mass media.
However, analysis conducted by “Novak” lab shows that the negative rating of Lukashenka in 2003 exceeded his positive rating, while the overall ratings of the opposition parties surpassed the popularity of the current President.
Media reports: Some opposition mass media blame the President for kidnappings and, probably, assassinations of famous politicians and journalists including the government opponents. According to mass media, the special extra-budgetary fund is enriched with obscure financial operations and illegal economic activities: tobacco and alcohol smuggling in particular.
Foreign mass media blame Belarusian authorities for the illicit trade of arms.
Quotations: “Creation of SES makes almost no use for us. Should this territorial and customs union come real, we won’t lose anything. If not, we won’t lose anything as well”. Interfax (“Vedomosti”, 23.07.2004, p. А2.)
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