Heads of State of Belarus
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
Vasily Ivanovich Kozlov
Date of birth/date of death: b. March 3 1903; d. December 2 1967.
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
1948 – 1967
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
Stanislav Stanislavovich Shushkevich
Date of birth/date of death: b. December 15 1934; d. May 3 2022.
Independent
1991
Republic of Belarus
Heads of State of the Republic of Belarus
The modern Belarusian state emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, initially operating under a parliamentary framework in which executive authority was divided between a chairman of parliament (formally the Chairman of the Supreme Council) and a government led by a prime minister. This arrangement proved short-lived. A new constitution adopted in 1994 created the office of president as a directly elected head of state, consolidating executive authority and establishing a presidential republic.
Since the first presidential election in 1994, the office has been dominated by Alexander Lukashenko, who has remained in power continuously. Over time, constitutional changes (most notably following the 1996 constitutional referendum) greatly expanded presidential powers, weakening the legislature and judiciary and transforming Belarus into a highly centralized, authoritarian system. The president exercises extensive control over domestic and foreign policy, appoints key officials, and governs with relatively limited institutional constraint compared to most European republics.
As a result, while Belarus formally retains the structures of a presidential republic, the practical operation of the system has been defined by the concentration of power in the presidency. Subsequent elections, particularly since the 2000s, have been widely criticized by international observers, and the office has evolved from its original constitutional conception into the dominant locus of political authority in the state.
Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus
Stanislav Stanislavovich Shushkevich (*acting)
Date of birth/date of death: b. December 15 1934; d. May 3 2022.
Independent
1991
Stanislav Stanislavovich Shushkevich
Date of birth/date of death: b. December 15 1934; d. May 3 2022.
Independent
1991 – 1994
Vyacheslav Nikolayevich Kuznetsov (*acting)
Date of birth/date of death: b. February 21 1947.
Independent
1994
Myechyslaw Ivanavich Hryb (*acting)
Date of birth/date of death: b. September 25 1938.
Independent
1994
President of the Republic of Belarus
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko
Date of birth/date of death: b. August 30 1954.
Independent
1994 – present
Heads of Government of Belarus
Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus
Alexander Genrikhovich Turchin
Date of birth/date of death: b. July 2 1975.
Independent
2025 – present
Deputy Heads of Government of Belarus
First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus
Alexander Genrikhovich Turchin
Date of birth/date of death: b. July 2 1975.
Independent
2018 – 2019
Heads of Government of Belarus
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
Vasily Ivanovich Kozlov
Date of birth/date of death: b. March 3 1903; d. December 2 1967.
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
1947 – 1948