For more than two decades, Alexander Lukashenko has been at the head of the Belarusian state. Not everyone likes his style of government. Some call Alexander Grigorievich the last European dictator, hinting at his methods of governing the country, far from what is commonly called democracy in the West. And yet Lukashenka can boast of excellent political longevity.
From the biography of Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko
The future president of Belarus was born on August 30, 1954 in the village of Kopys (Vitebsk region, Belarusian SSR). Sasha was raised by his mother, who worked as a milkmaid on a local farm. Little is known about Lukashenko's father. He was a forester by profession.
Alexander spent his childhood on the collective farm "Dneprovsky". Here he went to the most ordinary rural school. After graduation, Lukashenko entered the history department of the Mogilev Pedagogical Institute. In 1975, the young historian was assigned to Shklov. Here he served as secretary of the Komsomol committee in secondary school No. 1. A few months later, Alexander was drafted into the army. Lukashenka served in the border troops for two years.
The army service is over. Alexander continues to make a career on the Komsomol line, holding the post of secretary of the Komsomol committee in the city food industry department of Mogilev. In 1979, Lukashenko joined the ranks of the CPSU. In 1980, he again went to serve in the army, this time as a political officer of a tank company.
After his second military term, Lukashenko worked as deputy chairman of the Udarnik collective farm, after which he was deputy director of the building materials combine in Shklov.
In 1985, Alexander Grigorievich graduated from the Agricultural Academy in the economic direction. He laid the foundation for his future political career as head of the state farm "Gorodets". Here, in the perestroika period, he was the first to practice lease contracts. The unprofitable state farm quickly became an advanced enterprise. Even then, Lukashenka proved that he can manage people and enterprises.
Career in politics
Production successes allowed Lukashenka to enter big politics. The successful manager was invited to Moscow, after which he became a people's deputy of his republic. After the collapse of the USSR, the young politician made a dizzying career, skyrocketing to the top of power.
Lukashenka quickly became a fighter against corruption and a public defender. This allowed Alexander Grigorievich to enlist the support of voters. After becoming a presidential candidate in Belarus, Lukashenko focused on the program to save the economy, which was in a deep hole. He loudly promised the people that he would destroy the mafia, reduce inflation, and rid the country's population of poverty. In the 1994 elections, Lukashenko won 80% of the vote, after which he became the first president of the Republic of Belarus.
Western political circles have repeatedly sharply criticized Lukashenka's activities and the methods of his leadership. The West continues to believe that none of the elections that Alexander Grigorievich won met international standards and democratic norms.
As president, Lukashenko carried out many important reforms, which the people perceived ambiguously. The President of Belarus has repeatedly tried to build ties with neighboring Russia in such a way that it does not infringe on the interests of his people. However, official relations between neighboring powers are still far from ideal. The reason for this, in particular, is the different approaches to the economy.
In 2015, Lukashenko won a landslide victory in the presidential elections for the fifth time. Its goal is to make Belarus one of the leaders in terms of key economic indicators. The President focuses on domestic engineering and agriculture.
Personal life of Alexander Lukashenko
The President of Belarus has been married since 1975. He met his wife Galina in high school. Now the spouses live separately, although the spouses have not officially filed for divorce. In this marriage, Lukashenka had two sons: Viktor and Dmitry.
The president also has an illegitimate son, Nikolai, who was born in 2004. With him, his father very often appears at official events. Lukashenko is also a grandfather: he has seven grandchildren.
