ECONOMICS OF INNOVATION
NEW HORIZONS OF OPPORTUNITIES It is already obvious: the decision made in the country in due time not to pause production in the midst of a pandemic not only saved the enterprises, but in general had a positive effect on the economy. While many countries last year closed their borders and introduced lockdowns, Belarusian products were successfully sold and competed on world markets.
T BELTA
This is also confirmed by companies that have long earned a name in the world market. One of them is JSC Horizont Holding Management Company. The holding itself includes 16 commercial organizations, employing about 4 thousand employees. The company is actively developing six business areas — from the development and production of consumer and industrial electronics to construction, logistics and services. In addition to several hundred models of TVs, interactive systems, electronics for cars and agricultural machinery, and much more are produced here. The contracts with world famous brands are among the achievements. However now Horizont can be proud of such successes. But it was not always so. During a recent visit to the HORIZONT innovation center, which is the
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БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021
“brain” of the holding, Alexander Lukashenko recalled how at the very beginning of his presidency he visited an enterprise that found itself in a very difficult situation after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But the decision to keep the company was right. — This is a great production, this is the image of our country. Horizont, Vityaz in Soviet times… Horizont was generally a great company. It’s good that we saved it. I do not regret that I have kept this production, the President emphasized. New times — new solutions. It is not for nothing that the management of the holding was instructed, together with the Government, to think and decide what it is necessary to use production sites in the center of Minsk for. The fact is that for the time being, several objects remain unoccu-
pied, therefore, proposals are periodically received to transfer these territories, for example, for residential development or entertainment centers. However, the position of the Head of State on this issue is principled — the holding must analyze everything for the future, so that later it does not look for new production points for itself: — We need to build something that will give money tomorrow and where we can employ people… At the same time, the current situation at the enterprise is favorable. While industrialists in many countries are counting losses from the coronavirus pandemic, Horizont is counting profits. COVID‑19 did not reduce the demand for TVs and other electronics, so the Belarusian manufacturer is in the black: plans here are already planned for the whole of 2021. Yes, and the results of last year are impressive: the revenue from product sales for 11 months approached 400 million rubles, and the net profit amounted to almost 21 million rubles. In general, over the past five years, the holding increased its production volume almost fourfold, exports grew 3.7 times, and profit from sales — 4.6 times. In addition, as the general director of the holding, Yury Predko, said, they set up production of their own screens, which made it possible to increase the share of localization in Belarusian TVs to 60 percent. By the way, 90 percent of the production is exported. According to the top manager, in the last year, sales to Germany have grown
