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Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made a number of personnel decisions on 20 September, BelTA has learned.
Viktor Denisenko Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Tajikistan;
Sergei Lukashevich Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to Federative Republic of Brazil;
Andrei Chernetsky Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Korea.
The president also approved the appointment of:
Vitaly Kulak as Chairman of the Kamenets District Executive Committee;
Vadim Kravchuk as Chairman of the Zhabinka District Executive Committee
Aleksandra Mikheyenko as Chairwoman of the Kostyukovichi District Executive Committee;
Yevgeny Semenychev as Head of the Administration of Vitebsk's Pervomaisky District;
Vladislav Andreichenko as Director General of SOOO Mobile TeleSystems;
Valery Gromada as First Deputy Culture Minister;
Sergei Sarakach as Deputy Culture Minister;
Natalia Pavlyuchenko as First Deputy Labor and Social Protection Minister;
Yulia Berdnikova as Manager of the Social Security Fund of the Labor and Social Protection Ministry;
Aleksei Derbin as Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Energy Ministry;
Yekaterina Dubinskaya as Director of the publishing house Pedagogicheskaya Pressa [Pedagogical Press];
Nikolai Orlov as member of the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee;
Vladimir Babichev as member of the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee.
Written by belta.by
Belarus is ready to take part in infrastructure projects in Afghanistan, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he took part in the Heads of State Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on 17 September, BelTA has learned.
“Our country is ready to assist in rebuilding Afghanistan's infrastructure and supplying food,” the head of state said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko called the SCO a unique platform for discussing problems in Afghanistan that has observer status in the organization.
“We all respect the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of this state. We adhere to the principles of international law on non-interference in domestic affairs. This thesis was highlighted in all the speeches at this summit. We all want Afghanistan to return to normalcy and not cause problems for its neighbors. Moreover, the involvement of Afghanistan in the development of regional transport, logistics and energy infrastructure is critically important for linking Central Asia with South Asia, as well as for better communication within the economic space of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a whole,” the president said.
The head of state noted that the coordinated position of the SCO countries on Afghanistan could enable the organization to act as a system integrator of efforts of other international players. “These can be specialized UN agencies, global economic and financial institutions and even individual representatives of the private sector and civil society interested in working on specific projects in and around Afghanistan,” the president said.
Written by belta.by
Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko will be in Tajikistan on a working visit on 15-17 September, BelTA has learned.
In Dushanbe Aleksandr Lukashenko will participate in a session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and a session of the Heads of State Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states. Apart from that, a meeting of the SCO and CSTO heads of state will be held in Tajikistan's capital upon a proposal of the Belarusian leader. The meeting will focus on the situation in Afghanistan and measures to ensure security in the region.
The Belarus president is also expected to talk to foreign leaders on the sidelines of these events.
Written by belta.by
Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin on the evening of 9 September. The agenda of the meeting of the presidents of Belarus and Russia was widely discussed in the media space, as everyone anticipated the adoption of the Union State programs to take the Union State to a new level. Are we to expect a full-fledged common market? What prices of Russian energy carriers will be for Belarus? When will there be the single currency? What do these programs mean - integration or absorption? BelTA provides answers to the main questions about the talks between Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The work on these documents began some three years ago. Then, against the background of criticism about the lack of progress in the Union State, the parties developed more than 30 road maps. These documents, in fact, were just a kind of integration contours in certain areas. Later it was decided to give greater importance to this work. Therefore, each of today's programs, as Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the end of the meeting, is a specific action plan, according to which the countries intend to move forward.
There are 28 of them in total. These documents include the agreements on economic integration, which embraces common approaches to macroeconomic policies, monetary aspects, industrial and agrarian policies, customs administration, tax legislation, consumer protection, competition and trade.
The programs also deal with the energy industry, including the development of the common markets, nuclear energy. There is also a program devoted to common approaches in the work in the transport market. The Union State programs suggest unifying social and labor laws, ensuring equality of rights of citizens of Belarus and Russia, tourism sector.
Yes. At the very beginning of the meeting, Aleksandr Lukashenko said that the adoption of the Union State programs would be a breakthrough. “I think we will work well. We may have less work left to do than during our previous meetings. Those lasted for a very long time. As long as five hours and even eight hours. Because back then we had to work like bulldozers in order to clear the road for the governments and experts,” said the president.
The heads of state did really well indeed. After the talks it became known that all 28 Union State programs had been agreed upon. Vladimir Putin was the first to announce it to the media. “I would like to note with satisfaction that all 28 programs have been agreed upon,” he said.
The Council of Ministers of the Belarus-Russia Union State are set to meet in Minsk on 10 September. The governments are expected to adopt these documents at the meeting. They will ‘finalize some points' and ‘agree on the finishing touches', as the Belarusian president put it. After that the Union State programs will be submitted for approval to the Supreme State Council of the Union State. Its session is scheduled for the end of the year.
Yes, they will. It is envisaged in the Union State programs. Equal rights for businesses is the main document which was considered during the talks in the Kremlin. The Belarusian head of state emphasized the importance of fair competition for all companies in the markets of Belarus and Russia.
“Those equal conditions various representatives of Belarus have talked about for many years, including me as the president. It is the underlying foundation. We are equal partners. It is for the sake of equality, profitable manufacturing cooperation, fruitful cooperation that Belarusian-Russian integration has been launched,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.
The Union State programs also provide for a solution to the issue of energy supplies to Belarus. As for the near future, according to Vladimir Putin, mutually acceptable approaches to the gas issue have been developed following lengthy discussions. “The price Belarus will pay for Russian natural gas in 2022 will remain at this year's level. A document will be signed by 1 December 2023 on creating the common natural gas market within the framework of the Union State of Belarus and Russia,” said the Russian president. Now Belarus pays $128.5 per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian gas, while the gas price has increased significantly in the European market up to $650.
The countries are also expected to sign an agreement on the unification of oil and oil products markets, and an agreement on a unified electricity market.
No. Such a question was not on the agenda of the talks. “I have to admit that I'd told him we don't need new loans if we could take some from the nuclear power plant project, for which we've been granted a certain loan (it is Russia's practice all over the world). If we save something, I asked him to give us the money we've saved as a loan. The answer was: we will think about it, it suits us if there are good, profitable projects for Belarus and Russia,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
Belarus does not take large loans from Russia for now. Nevertheless, there will be some financial support. The volume of Russia's credit support to Belarus from September 2021 and till the end of 2022 will exceed $630 million.
According to the presidents, it will continue developing. Aleksandr Lukashenko called the deepening of integration and the expansion of diversified cooperation in the Union State the most effective answer to illwishers.
Of course, during the meeting the heads of state discussed in detail current international issues, relations with neighboring countries and associations. The presidents also touched upon the situation in instability zones, first of all in Afghanistan, discussing possible threats to the security of the Union State. The leaders also talked over the Union State military exercise Zapad 2021.
“We will continue increasing our joint efforts to counter common challenges and threats,” said the Belarusian president.
The presidents could not give a definite answer to this question at a meeting with journalists. According to the heads of state, the countries are not yet ready for this, and the introduction of a single currency is not the top priority today. However, a common macroeconomic policy, a common payment space and harmonization of monetary policy are in place for the further development of the Union State.
“Putin or Lukashenko slowing down these processes is not the issue. When we examined this problem, the Central Bank of Russia and the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus unanimously asked us to leave it be. They said that neither the central banks nor our countries were ready for it,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko did not rule out the possibility that Belarus and Russia may return to this matter in the future. “Currency is not a problem. We've always stumbled over the matter of the single emission center. There are certain problems with it,” he explained.
Vladimir Putin stated that some Western colleagues of his and European leaders had invited him to work together to resolve problems with migrants at the Belarusian border and had wanted him to somehow influence the situation. “The answer is simple: it does not concern us. It is not our border,” he noted.
He stressed that the migration crisis had emerged at the Belarusian border with other sovereign countries, this is why these countries should find solutions to problems on their own. “If they want to truly resolve the problem, they should contact Belarusian authorities at any level and resolve the problem together with the neighboring country,” the Russian leader said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko has repeatedly emphasized: the countries can build very close relations and there is no need to sacrifice sovereignty and independence. All the more so, these are immutable values for the Belarusian people.
“The president of Russia delicately did not mention various speculations about mergers and takeovers and so on. I should say that the president of Russia and I did not succumb to this disease. If someone did, we can fix them.,” Aleksandr Lukashenko briefly remarked after the talks.
After the meeting of the two presidents, it became known that Russia was lifting all COVID-19 restrictions on passenger flights with Belarus. This news was a surprise not only for journalists: during the talks Vladimir Putin forgot to inform his Belarusian counterpart about the recent decision of the government commission.
Before the pandemic, over 200 flights were performed between the countries every week. Now there are only 36 of them. The Russian president said it was unlikely for the two countries to get back to the pre-COVID level in two days. He expressed hope however that the recovery would be fast.
Written by belta.by
The industrial group Belorusneft saved the country once. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled that as he heard out a report from Belorusneft Director General Aleksandr Lyakhov on 6 September, BelTA has learned. Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalya Kochanova was also present during the meeting.
The president promised assistance with resolving red-tape and excessive bureaucracy problems to the company's management. “There is plenty of bureaucracy and foot-dragging. But we will resolve the problem. Just the way we did once with regard to refueling stations,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “Not a single matter is accomplished in Belarus without you. If Belorusneft cannot build a refueling station somewhere, then feel free to initial the document, I will sign it and we will give it to some other company. According to my data, Belorusneft accounts for about 70% of the market [sales of oil products] in Belarus. I will always support it as long as I am the president,” the head of state stressed.
He reminded that Belorusneft saved the country in the past. “When Russia stopped supplying the necessary volumes of oil to us. Someone hoped we would have a shortage of oil products. Then we processed all the oil we'd extracted for domestic needs. And people didn't notice any shortages. There wasn't one. Thanks to our company,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
“This is why I made the right decision in the past, excuse me for immodesty. I forbade any privatization of Belorusneft. It is a state enterprise, which is supposed to provide our population with all the necessary oil products. There is no Belarus today without oil products. Everyone already has 2-3 cars per family, particularly advanced Belarusians. And the cars need fuel. We make it. We evaluate the markets to see what sells better – oil, oil products. And then there are deliveries from the Russian Federation. We fully satisfy our domestic needs,” the president noted.
Written by belta.by
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko criticized the current state of affairs in Belarusian football as he attended the ceremony to inaugurate the children and youth football center of FC Dinamo Minsk on 3 September, BelTA has learned.
“Such poor performance of Belarusian football players is inadmissible,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
The president explained that he does not mean only the “outstanding” performance of Belarusian football players against the Czech Republic. “I asked the senior officials of the federation why they allowed to youth team to play yesterday. They did not even go there to play. Please remember it. It will be a lesson for you,” the head of state said.
BelTA reported earlier that Belarus suffered a second defeat in a row in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In the third match of Group E Belarus lost to the Czech Republic 0-1 in Ostrava.
At the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Belarus defeated Estonia 4-2 in Minsk and lost 0-8 to Belgium in an away match. Now Belarusian players will go to Russia's Kazan where they will face Wales on 5 September and Belgium on 8 September.
Written by belta.by
We need patriotic education in schools, Belarusian President Aleksandr said as he talked to the media in Bobruisk on 1 September, BelTA has learned.
"It is needed. We know that is needed, and we will do it. We are under-performing in this regard," the head of state said.
He also spoke about the functions of military training instructors in schools. Their main function is to help ensure safety and security in educational institutions. "The main thing is safety and security at school. Parents should not have any worries. Military training instructors should help the headmaster to ensure safety and security in the school and to educate children in the spirit of this safety. This is the main function of these school military training instructors Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
Written by belta.by
У Валожынскім краязнаўчым музеі працуе выстава “Каштоўны дар – народнае адзінства”, якая прысвечана гістарычнаму падзелу і аднаўленню тэрытарыяльнай целасці БССР у 1921-1939 годзе. На экапазіцыі прадстаўлены экспанаты з фондаў музея: часопісы і газеты таго часу, дакументы, рэкламныя праспекты, мастацкая літаратура на польскай мове 1920-1930-ых гадоў, фотаздымкі мясцовых жыхароў таго перыяду, сярод якіх навучэнцы польскай гімназіі, атрад скаўтаў, вайскоўцы польскай арміі і ўдзельнікі нацыянальна-вызваленчага руху на тэрыторыі Валожынскага раёна.
