Meeting with head and coordinators of initiative group.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko held the meeting with the head and coordinators of his initiative group.

"I am grateful to the Federation of Trade Unions and to you, Yuri[Senko, the chairman of the FTUB] for putting forward the initiative to do this hard work., This was an issue I was thinking about. Frankly speaking, I also consulted with the President Administration. And suddenly they said that the unions are ready to do this work. Well, I heaved a sigh of relief; somebody took on this job. This is very important. I have already said that I am very grateful to all of you - the coordinators and the teams that have been set up within the framework of the initiative group," the President said.

It was with words of gratitude that Aleksandr Lukashenko began the meeting: "I want to sincerely thank you for the work that you have done and are doing. I don't know how I can describe it,. Maybe as the help to the incumbent President. I appreciate it very much."

The head of state noted that he is briefed about the work of the initiative group on a daily basis. But the circumstances and work schedule were such that he could not meet them before. "Though the schedule is as tight today! But I asked that all events be postponed to meet you. I am sure that our today's conversation will reach every member of the initiative group to the maximum," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Meeting with all the members of the initiative group seems a challenge as there are more than 17,000 of them across the country. "I am asking you to convey my words of gratitude to all the people who are working for our common cause," the Belarusian leader said.

The head of state said that he knows from personal experience how hard this work is: "I used to do it myself in my first election. I used to meet with voters in person. I did not just control things then. I would take signature sheets, go door-to-door, conduct campaigning events, so that people could see that the young man who dared to challenge the powerful machine and put forward his candidacy".

"In general, I would like to say that without your work there can be no candidates at all. If there are no signatures in support of a presidential candidate, then there is no candidate. Therefore, the work you are doing in the most important one," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

According to Yuri Senko, a total of 1,581,559 signatures in support of Aleksandr Lukashenko's nomination have been collected so far.