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The Belarusian air carrier Belavia has resumed its flight program to Oman. The first flight of the season from the Belarusian capital to Salalah was given a ceremonial send-off at Minsk National Airport, complete with a photo zone and refreshments for passengers, BelTA has learned.The program will continue until the end of May 2026. The flight duration is approximately 7 hours, and the available tours are designed for 9-11 nights. The base aircraft type is Boeing 737-8.
The aircraft in its cornflower-blue livery departs for Salalah at 22.40 and will deliver tourists to their vacation spot in the "Caribbean of the East" by tomorrow. The airport senior officials will greet the flight upon arrival in Oman. National sweets, coffee, and flowers have been prepared for the travelers.
“The first flight was sold out. Direct air communication between the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Belarus is an important step towards strengthening strategic partnership, and economic, tourist, and cultural ties,” stated Yekaterina Radishevskaya, Head of Marketing and Foreign Economic Activity at Belavia.
The route is popular among Belarusians, partly due to the joint decision to ease visa requirements. Tourists are attracted by the magnificent beaches with crystal-clear water.
mong the first to check in for the flight was Yana Asipovich. She is traveling on vacation with her two children aged 12 and 8, her husband and mother. "A direct flight is very convenient. With children, it's a priority: we board in Minsk and disembark at our destination. We haven't been to Oman before. These are unplanned holidays. The five of us are traveling together. It's always pleasant to have time off and relax and it doesn’t matter whether it is abroad or in Belarus. We expect to gain new experiences. We haven't planned any excursions yet, but if something catches our interest, we will definitely go and check out,” the tourist noted.
The family of Tatiana and Michele Poma is also going on a vacation on the pristine white beaches of an Omani resort. The trip is a gift from the husband to his wife for her birthday. Michele Poma is a musician, composer, singer, and president of the cultural association International Italian Festivals.
“Oman is something new for us. We decided to give it a try. We are counting on a pleasant vacation. We want to travel around and see what's there. I am from Vitebsk myself, and my husband is from Italy. Michele is an official partner of the Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk. We fly to festivals often, we explore. We live on airplanes," Tatiana noted with a touch of humor. "We are frequent guests in Belarus.”
Traveling to Oman with her sister and daughter is Irina Martyanova. "When I found out that the first flight was opening, I booked a trip. The country is washed by the Arabian Sea. That's the Indian Ocean. It's not just desert, but also green oases. We didn't think long. Visas were waived and it it is a big advantage. There's a direct flight. That's great. I hope new destinations will continue to open up. If we like it, we'll go again," the woman said.
The airline launched its first charter flight to Salalah on 27 February 2025. This new route was launched as a result of highest-level agreements between Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said. Until recently, Belarusians could only reach Oman with layovers in third countries. The launch of this direct flight has significantly simplified travel logistics.
In early October, a decision was made to move a new step and sign an agreement on the mutual abolition of visas. The airline is confident that this will have a beneficial effect on increasing tourist flows and the number of flights.
The consolidator of the charter flight is the Intercity tour operator. The approximate cost of a tour package for two is around $2,500.
Oman can still be considered a new tourist destination in the Belarusian market. It is called the “Caribbean of the East”. It is very comfortable to vacation here both in summer and winter. The city of Salalah is located on the coast of the Arabian Sea. Since ancient times, the country has been famous for its strong black coffee, often served with cardamom or a drop of rose water.Belavia will launch flights to Sri Lanka in a few days and to Thailand in January.
Housing for large families should be distributed evenly across the entire country, not concentrated in Minsk and other major cities, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting with the leadership of the Council of Ministers on 23 October, BelTA has learned.The president noted that the construction of housing for military personnel and large families is among the state's priorities and will continue to be the number one issue. Furthermore, a great deal is already being done to support large families, including the assistance with housing construction and the Family Capital program.However, regarding housing construction, the head of state was critical of the locations chosen for houses for large families. “We started building housing in Minsk, in convenient locations, drawing the workforce to the cities. What are we doing?” he said. “Why are we pulling large families towards Minsk? They should, like everyone else, live across the entire country. There should be an even distribution of labor, of workforce, like it was in Soviet times.”
Furthermore, outside of major cities, there is an opportunity to build not just apartments, but houses with garden plots where people can grow something. “People need to have an opportunity to garden or do something with their own hands. We've forgotten about this; we started building housing for large families in Minsk and regional centers,” Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked.
The president also emphasized that when providing assistance, the approach must be targeted, and one cannot act with a one-size-fits-all approach. “Before providing assistance, before giving a house or an apartment built with state support, it is important to figure out who this particular large family is. We need to look into the details,” the head of state pointed out.
Pinsk will host a meeting of the сommission on youth policy, sports and tourism of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia on 30 October, the Parliamentary Assembly’s press service told BelTA.
“The participants will review measures to develop cooperation between Belarus and Russia in tourism within the framework of the Union State, using the tourism potential of the city of Pinsk and Pinsk District, Brest Oblast as an example,” the press service said.
Parliamentarians will also discuss the drafting of a strategy for the medium-term development of the youth policy of the Union State and implementation of the roadmap of Belarusian government bodies, Russian federal executive authorities, and national public associations of the two countries in the youth policy for 2025-2027.
The meeting will take stock of the 18th Youth for the Union State festival and the Union State youth forum The Role of Youth in Preserving and Protecting Historical Memory held in 2025.
Representatives of the Standing Committee of the Union State, the Education Ministry and the Sport and Tourism Ministry of Belarus, the Economic Development Ministry and the Sport Ministry of Russia, the National Tourism Agency of Belarus, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs of Russia, and the leadership of the Pinsk District Executive Committee are invited to participate in the event.
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko received reports from Head of the Belarus President Administration Dmitry Krutoi and Chairperson of the Council of the Republic Natalya Kochanova on 22 October, BelTA has learned.
Dmitry Krutoi’s primary focus was on preparations for a major meeting later this week on the sustainable development of Vitebsk Oblast. The president was briefed on a work plan that will feature substantive reports from the regional leadership on key sectors.
The discussion also covered areas requiring ongoing oversight, including the implementation of decisions related to Vitebsk Oblast. These involve the work of integration structures, the agricultural industry and the manufacturing sector of the region, the situation at struggling enterprises, with the focus on the regional development program. Aleksandr Lukashenko responded that all these areas are under special control and will be discussed in detail.
The second part of Dmitry Krutoi’s report covered public outreach, a mandate of the Belarus President Administration. It reviewed the media engagement of government members and senior officials on policy priorities and public feedback. The principal instruction of the president was to ensure a balanced information environment.
Additionally, Dmitry Krutoi reported on streamlining the procedure for sending officials on business trips abroad and implementing workflow protocols under Directive No. 11. This directive mandates scheduling meetings outside of working hours to ensure they do not disrupt primary responsibilities.
Natalya Kochanova’s report centered on monitoring local trade and pricing, a task assigned to the Council of the Republic and the House of Representatives. The heads of the two chambers of parliament provide regular updates on these matters to the head of state. In particular, the House of Representatives submits a monthly report on outcomes of this monitoring to the president. These issues were also in the focus of the report by the speaker of the Council of the Republic. Natalya Kochanova highlighted key issues such as pricing fairness, the organization of trade in regions and rural areas, public sentiment, and other matters of public concern.
Natalya Kochanova also informed the head of state on personnel matters falling within the purview of the Council of the Republic.
The experience of the National Statistical Committee of Belarus in preparing for the 2030 round of population censuses was presented at a conference of statistics services of the CIS states in Moscow, the press service of Belarus’ National Statistical Committee told BelTA.
A conference of specialists from the national statistics services of the CIS member states is taking place in Moscow to discuss “Preparation for the 2030 round of population censuses in the CIS region”. The event has been organized by the CIS Statistical Committee with the support of the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation and has brought together representatives of national statistics services of the Commonwealth countries as well as experts from international organizations. The Republic of Belarus is represented at the conference by a delegation from Belarus’ National Statistical Committee led by Deputy Chairwoman Zhanna Vasilevskaya.
Belarusian statisticians presented their experience and conclusions from the 2019 population census as well as approaches to the digital transformation of statistics processes in preparation for the 2029 population census.
In her speech Zhanna Vasilevskaya noted the successful experience of conducting the 2019 census: “The experience we gained during the preparations for and the actual 2019 population census allows us to apply the knowledge we have gained for the sake of optimizing processes and improving the efficiency of preparing for the next census. Preparations for the 2030 round of the population census already include improving the legislative framework, introducing modern digital solutions, expanding the use of administrative data sources, developing an online census, and applying artificial intelligence technologies to automate information processing and analysis.”
Irina Bichan, Head of the Central Office for Demographic Statistics and Population Census, gave a presentation titled as “The 2030 round of the population census in the Republic of Belarus: On the way to digital transformation.”
The Belarusian experience attracted the interest of the conference participants as an example of a systematic approach to the digitization of national statistics and preparation for the new round of censuses.
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has submitted the bill “On amendments to laws on law-making activity" to the Parliament, BelTA has learned from the press service of the Belarusian leader.
The head of state issued the instruction to prepare this bill following the large-scale review of legislation. Work on the document continued for almost a year.
The key innovations of the bill are aimed at ensuring the compactness and quality of legislation.
The contributors to the bill were the National Center of Legislation and Legal Research and also the President Administration, the Council of Ministers, both houses of parliament, the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General's Office, and other government bodies. The document has incorporated proposals from 66 government agencies, foreign experience, and academic research.
The actions by the collective West reflect panic and fear in the face of a new world, economist and analyst Serghei Banari said in a new episode of the V Teme [On Point] project on BelTA's YouTube channel.
According to the analyst, all the actions taken today by the collective West, led by the Anglo-Saxons, indicate panic and fear in the face of a new world.
“The world is no longer mono-centric. There is no single center in London dictating its agenda to Moscow, Beijing, Washington, Delhi, and so on,” Serghei Banari said. “Today's intellectual, political, and expert communities of the Anglo-Saxon world have significantly diminished in stature. It no longer produces meaning or personalities. It no longer produces those who are ready to lead.”
