Volozhin Region
Executive Committee

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made new appointments on 20 October, BelTA informs.

The head of state appointed:

Leonid Martynyuk aide to the president of the Republic of Belarus – inspector for Mogilev Oblast;

Konstantin Burak head of the Apparatus of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus;

Andrei Yevdochenko permanent representatives of the Republic of Belarus in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons with concurrent accreditation;

Maksim Yermolovich permanent representatives of the Republic of Belarus in the International Maritime Organization with concurrent accreditation.

The president also approved the appointment of:

Sergei Bartosh as chairman of the Bereza District Executive Committee;

Nikolai Moroz as chairman of the Lyakhovichi District Executive Committee;

Andrei Soiko as director general of OAO Naftan;

Natalya Karchevskaya as rector of the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts;

Natalya Lapteva as rector of the Minsk State Linguistic University;

Aleksandr Bakhanovich as rector of the Brest State Technical University;

Aleksandr Goroshko as deputy minister of natural resources and environmental protection.

As of 20 October 80,503 patients previously diagnosed with COVID-19 recovered and were discharged from hospitals in Belarus, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Healthcare Ministry.

The nationwide COVID-19 tally has reached 88,909 cases. Belarus has performed 2,244,310 tests.

As many as 937 COVID-19 patients suffering from a number of chronic diseases have died since the infection's outbreak in Belarus.

The Belarusian air carrier Belavia will increase the number of Minsk-Moscow-Minsk flights to three a week on 19 October, BelTA learned from the press service of Belavia.

Belavia will fly to Domodedovo Airport in Moscow on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, departing from Minsk at 13:35 and arriving in Moscow at 14:55. The Moscow-Minsk flight will depart at 14:45 and arrive in Minsk National Airport at 16:05.

Belavia recommends getting familiar with travel restrictions in the destination country beforehand.

Tickets are available at belavia.by, airline ticket offices and agents.

Air traffic between Russia and Belarus was resumed on 21 September: one flight a week was authorized on a mutual basis. On 14 October, the countries agreed to increase the number of flights en route Moscow-Minsk to three a week on a mutual basis.

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko extended greetings to the emergency medical service station of Minsk on the 110th anniversary of the founding of the emergency medical service, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian leader.

This is an epoch in the history of national healthcare, the head of state noted. During this time, the methods of examination and treatment, technical means and equipment have changed, but the responsibility of doctors, their readiness to help patients, the ability to make the right decision in the most extreme situation remain unshakable.

“You have built an advanced and effective system of providing emergency medical care to residents of Minsk. You have enforced a "golden hour" rule saving tens of thousands of lives every year,” the message of greetings reads.

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that the difficult epidemiological situation this year once again confirmed that the courage of Belarusian medics has no borders. "Doctors, paramedics, nurses, drivers, operators of dispatch services - everyone is the embodiment of hope and loyalty to the profession," the president said.

In 2020 the Collective Security Treaty Organization intends to finish the necessary legal work to include its peacekeeping mission into the United Nations Organization, BelTA learned from Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Stanislav Zas.

Stanislav Zas said that participation in operations under the aegis of the United Nations Organization is one of the promising directions for developing the CSTO peacekeeping forces. “A lot of work has been done by the Secretariat of the United Nations Organization. We've received their support. Work is now in progress to amend our legislation to match standards of the international organization. I think this year we will finish the legal work and next year we will begin specific negotiations on including the peacekeeping mission into the UN,” he said.

Stanislav Zas reminded that the main goal of the Collective Security Treaty Organization is to bolster and support international peace and regional security by political means instead of military force. Well-trained units are available for it. They are capable of carrying out peacekeeping tasks, of enabling conditions for separating warring sides and starting negotiations in order to restore peace.

“We have the necessary legal base for carrying out peacekeeping operations. We've formed the relevant forces and assets. The CSTO's total peacekeeping strength is close to 3,600 people from all the member states. They are well-trained. Most of the military personnel of these units have taken part in peacekeeping operations,” he added.

Stanislav Zas also stressed that getting CSTO peacekeeping forces involved in the resolution of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is not on agenda. Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as countries of the OSCE's Minsk group are involved in resolving the situation.

The command and staff exercise Nerushimoye Bratstvo 2020 [Indestructible Brotherhood] ended in Vitebsk District on 16 October. Contingents of the CSTO member states, operations groups of the CSTO Joint Staff and the CSTO Secretariat, police forces, and emergency response and rescue workers took part in the exercise. A total of over 900 people and over 120 units of military hardware and special hardware, including flying drones and helicopters, were deployed as part of the exercise.

Some 1,000 transactions to sell meat raw materials for the needs of domestic processing companies have been conducted at the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) since the start of the year, BelTA learned from the press service of the BUCE.

More than half of this amount was provided by Belarusian manufacturers. Frozen and chilled cattle meat as well as by-products were in the highest demand.

Foreign suppliers from the UK, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland accounted for 47% of all transactions with meat raw materials. Foreign companies mainly bought pork and poultry.

The BUCE stressed the recently increased activity by large meat processing companies at the exchange. “Some meat processing companies increased their purchases by 50-70% year-on-year. First of all, the matter pertains to imported products. With the ongoing reduction of meat production in the main exporting countries, many foreign suppliers have significantly raised prices. However, competition at the stock exchange trading managed to partially level this price hike. Today, one of the key factors stimulating domestic processing companies to expand the use of exchange mechanism is the opportunity to save on the purchase of meat raw materials,” the BUCE said.

On 15 October Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed decree No. 364 “On the appointment and dismissal of judges”, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian leader.

The head of state appointed Igor Lyubovitsky a judge of the Supreme Court, relieving him of his post as a judge of the Minsk City Court. In addition to that, Andrei Likhach was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Grodno Oblast Court, Svetlana Gonchar was appointed Deputy Chair of the Minsk Oblast Court, Sergei Nikolayev was appointed First Deputy Chairman of the Minsk City Court, and Olga Romashevskaya was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Minsk City Court.

Ruslan Aniskevich was relieved of his post of a judge of the Supreme Court. Vitaly Kulesh and Aleksei Levkovich were relieved of their post of Deputy Chairmen of the Grodno Oblast Court and the Minsk Oblast Court, respectively.

The decree also appointed and dismissed a number of judges and heads of various courts in the regions of Belarus.

The president also signed decree No. 365 “On the assignment of qualification classes to judges”.

The coronavirus pandemic will end by the summer of 2021, Belarus' Acting Healthcare Minister Dmitry Pinevich said as he met with students of the Belarusian State Medical University, BelTA has learned.

“The incidence of COVID-19 decreased in the summer. Now we are seeing the so-called new wave. The strain will remain pandemic for a year and a half. We will forget about it as a pandemic only by the summer of next year," Dmitry Pinevich said.

According to him, the virus has reduced its virulence. Nevertheless, it continues to pose a certain danger to the elderly. In general, patients have become younger.

The incidence rate is now about half of that of the spring period. This also applies to the number of hospitalized patients. Work has begun to re-purpose the hospitals for COVID patients. “We expect that the situation will be difficult. But we believe that the treatment protocols, which were developed in the spring, will help us get through this period," the acting minister said. He added that the country has received supplies of low-molecular heparins and the Remdesivir drug that are used to treat patients with COVID-19.

According to Dmitry Pinevich, the reaction of the human body to coronavirus is uniquely different from that to the seasonal influenza. Many of the students who were in intensive care saw it. “But to lock down all spheres of life, including education, would be the gravest mistake,” the acting minister believes.

“To move all things online and study the art of healing while at home? The world after COVID will be different. Some think that some students will continue training face-to-face, at the bedside of a patient, in contact with the professor, while others will have to learn online, which will affect the quality of education. We need to approach everything carefully, consider all risks and threats,” Dmitry Pinevich noted. He spokesin favor of classroom education for medical students, though online lectures are a possibility too.

At the meeting, the students also asked whether the work in the "red zones" will earn them any credits. Dmitry Pinevich responded positively. "All those who worked in the ‘red zones' will be entitled to bonuses," he said.

The Belarusian Transport and Communications Ministry seeks to resume flights from Minsk to regions of Russia, BelTA learned from the press service of the ministry.

“The number of flights en route Moscow-Minsk will be increased to three a week on a mutual basis. Flights to other Russian cities are currently off the agenda. However, we expect to reach relevant agreements and resume air travel to Russian regions,” the press service said.

Railway passenger traffic between Belarus and Russia is still suspended. The ministry noted that the countries are in talks over this issue. The transport ministries will make the decision in view of the epidemiological situation and then harmonize the organizational matters.

“As for air travel, at first, we agreed to operate one flight a week, now this number has been increased to three flights a week. We hope that we will make similar progress regarding other means of transport,” the press service added.

BelTA reported earlier that the number of flights between Russia and Belarus en route Moscow-Minsk will be increased to three a week on a mutual basis. The decision was taken by the Russian Emergency Operations Center to stop COVID-19 spread.

Air traffic between Russia and Belarus was resumed on 21 September: one flight a week was authorized on a mutual basis. Since late September, national carriers Belavia and Aeroflot have operated one roundtrip flight a week between the capitals of the two countries.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is an important organization, and we must develop it, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas on 15 October, BelTA has learned.

“The events here in August and the reaction to these events, first of all, in Russia show that this organization is very important, and we must develop it. In a conversation with Putin I spoke about it: now we have, probably, realized what the CSTO is and why we need it,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The president recalled that a few years ago a new military doctrine had been adopted in Belarus. It included provisions on such phenomena as hybrid wars and color revolutions. “Something like that could have happened in Belarus. Therefore, we had to respond and to demonstrate force as well. We looked at the entire western region, found our range, as they say in the army. Probably, it helped those abroad to come to their senses and to realize that our fist is strong and we can respond seriously. Therefore, the CSTO should exist, we will take an active part in it. Even if it is uncomfortable for someone, we will work there,” the head of state said.

“Therefore, in the period of Belarus' leadership we would like the CSTO secretary general to adhere to the agreed position and to encourage efficient work. You will have absolute support on our behalf,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.

Apart from that, the president asked a few personal questions to Stanislav Zas. “Have you adapted there or not? It's better not to strike root, but to feel comfortable enough to work well,” he said.

“I'm fine, but I am not going to stay there forever,” Stanistav Zas answered.

“To stay? No, it's out of the question!” the head of state said.

“My tenure has a specified time limit, I am doing my best, and then I will come back,” the Belarusian general said. “As far as the situation is concerned, the pandemic has a very strong influence this year. The first stage is already behind, now the second wave has come – there is an increase in all our countries. Russia posted an anti-record yesterday: 244 people died within 24 hours. The situation is not easy. However, such restrictive measures [like before] are not applied.”

On current activities and rescheduling of CSTO exercise

The COVID-19 pandemic has made adjustments to the activities of the CSTO. The majority of scheduled events are held online, part of operations and exercises has been rescheduled. For example, the anti-drug operation Kanal [Channel] and the operation to combat illegal migration Nelegal have been postponed till 2021.

Out of the seven scheduled events, only Echelon in Russia and Nerushimoye Bratstvo [Unbreakable Brotherhood] in Belarus were held this year. The remaining five – Vzaimodeistviye [Interaction] and Poisk [Search] in Armenia, Rubezh [Frontier] in Kyrgyzstan, Cobalt in Tajikistan and the rescuers' exercise in Russia – have been postponed till 2021.

The organization will continue doing its best to integrate its potential in the system of UN peacemaking activities. The ratification of the agreement on the legalization of the statuses of CSTO partners and observers is nearing completion. In this regards, plans have been made to expand cooperation with the CIS, the OSCE and the SCO; among states – with Serbia.

Besides, the CSTO has finished the development of the anti-drug strategy for 2021-2025.

Attitude to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

After the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict permanent working bodies of the CSTO did not receive any official statements from the Armenian side, the representatives of the organization say. At the same time, the CSTO Permanent Committee received a statement from the prime minister of Armenia, statements of the permanent representative of Armenia at the CSTO and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Previously, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas had already expressed concerns and regrets over the resumption of the military conflict. The organization summoned Armenia and Azerbaijan to strive for peaceful settlement of the conflict and to restrain from provocative activities.

On preparations for CSTO summit

The session of the CSTO Collective Security Council is scheduled for 2 December. It is expected to take place in Moscow. Before that, plans have been made to hold a meeting of the CSTO Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils on 17 November and the meetings of ministers of defense and foreign affairs on 1 December.

The heads of state are expected to sign 17 documents, including the declaration of the CSTO Collective Security Council, a statement on the establishment of the just and sustainable world order, an agreement on army activities, a protocol on introducing amendments to the agreement on peacemaking operations. It is also expected that an anti-drug strategy of the CSTO member states for 2021-2025 will be approved.