Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has reassigned key positions within the country's government and presidential administration with a view to boosting efficiency, the BELTA state-run news agency reported on Thursday.
"Efficiency must be increased unbelievably if we want to survive this crazy fight," BELTA quoted Lukashenko as saying.
He warned the new head of the presidential administration, former ambassador to Russia Dmitry Krutoi, that "ministers should run about and get things done."
Lukashenko said that the reshuffle was aimed at reducing bureaucracy.
The new foreign minister is Maxim Ryzhenkov. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to be shaken up so that it gets its act together," Lukashenko said. Anybody who didn't want to work should be dismissed, he added.
Ryzhenkov, who effectively had headed the presidential administration, replaces Sergei Aleinik, who is moving to parliament.
Aleinik had only been in office since the end of 2022, after his predecessor, the internationally respected foreign minister Vladimir Makei, died unexpectedly.
In addition to the top of the presidential office, the position of deputy head of the presidential administration is being filled with Natalya Petkevich, whom Lukashenko praised as being assertive.
In government, Lukashenko appointed Yuri Shuleiko as deputy prime minister, Aleksandr Yefimov as industry minister and Anatoly Linevich as minister for agriculture, an important sector in Belarus.
Belarus is Russia's closest ally in the conflict with Ukraine and the West. The country is economically dependent on Moscow for its raw materials.
Like Russia, Belarus is also subject to Western sanctions due to human rights violations and support for Moscow's war against Ukraine.
