Volozhin Region
Executive Committee

The Belarusian national air carrier Belavia will perform a one-time charter flight from Minsk to Tashkent and back on 28-29 July, BelTA learned from Belavia's Instagram account.

“Seeking ways to return citizens home amid the situation with the coronavirus Belavia will perform a flight from Minsk to Tashkent and back. The departure from Minsk is at 20:10 on 28 July. The departure from Tashkent is at 03.50 on 29 July (local time),” the company said.

Tickets are available on the website belavia.by, in the offices of the air company and agents.

The airline recommends checking with travel companies for issues related to self-isolation and quarantine.

There are many areas where Belarus and the United States can cooperate, where their interests coincide, Oleg Kravchenko, who has been appointed Ambassadress Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to the United States, told BelTA.

“The areas where our interests coincide, first of all, includes the cooperation in attracting financial resources, economic and energy dialogue, international security, law enforcement cooperation,” Oleg Kravchenko noted.

“The fact that we belong to various military and political blocs does not exclude, but rather necessitates developing contacts between the military,” the ambassador is convinced.

"Of course, we do not see eye to eye on everything. A dialogue on those issues where we diverge remains an important element of our bilateral relations,” the ambassador said.

“I would like to see our relations normalized and stable,” Ambassador Oleg Kravchenko noted.

According to the information of the economy committee of the regional executive committee, in the first half of the year, agricultural enterprises of the central region produced agricultural products in current prices in the amount of 1,760.4 million rubles, the growth rate in comparable prices to January-June 2019 amounted to 105.4 percent.

During the same period, 260.7 thousand tons of the main types of livestock and poultry were grown, which is 106.8 percent compared to last year. Livestock and poultry sold for slaughter in live weight of 247.1 thousand tons or 107.6 percent.

Agricultural organizations produced 963.700 tons of milk (109.5 percent), the average milk yield from a cow is 2875 kilograms, which is 225 kilograms more than in the first six months of 2019. 870.100 tons of milk were sold, or 90.3 percent of the production.

As of July 1, the number of cattle in agricultural organizations amounted to 958.700 heads (100.6 percent as of July 1, 2019), of which 332.6 thousand cows. The number of pigs and poultry has increased. Now there are 690.800 and 16.9 million heads, respectively. Compared to the level of six months of last year, these are 102.7 and 106.1 percent.

Belarus is interested in attracting more Egyptian tourists, Belarus' Sport and Tourism Minister Sergei Kovalchuk said as he met with Dr. Khaled Al-Anani, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt in Minsk on 17 July, BelTA has learned.

“Last year, 258,000 Belarusians visited Egypt. These are pretty large numbers. Now we need to move around this statistics and encourage more citizens of Egypt to come to Belarus. So far, we have welcomed a little more than a thousand Egyptians a year,” Sergei Kovalchuk said.

In his opinion, such a small flow is due to transport issues. “We do not have a direct regular flight with Egypt. So we need to address this issue. It would be good to have low-cost airlines flying on this route," the minister said.

Sergei Kovalchuk noted that the Belarusian hosts will try to show the Egyptian delegation all advantages of the country. “We are developing various types of tourism: industrial, medical, agro-ecotourism. The country has good health resorts, a large number of sports facilities, excellent infrastructure,” he added.

For his part, Dr. Khaled Al-Anani said that this was one of his first visits abroad after the pandemic. “Our main goal is to show that we are ready to welcome tourists," he said. “Those tourists who visited Egypt after the borders reopened returned absolutely healthy. Everyone who is visiting our country has a safe stay.”

Dr. Khaled Al-Anani noted, in particular, the interest of the Egyptian business in Belarus: various proposals are considered, tours are offered, negotiations are held. “We have taken our relations to the level of interstate ties. Tourism is the best way of communication between our citizens,” he concluded.

The Egyptian delegation headed by Minister of Antiquities and Tourism Dr. Khaled Al-Anani is on a two-day official visit to Belarus. The guests are set to visit the National Historical Museum, Minsk Tractor Works, the Cathedral Mosque and the Yunost health resort and take a tour of Minsk. The presentation of the tourism potential of Belarus and Egypt has been scheduled for 18 July.

Belarus' Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei met with outgoing U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Belarus Jenifer Moore on 17 July 2020, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The parties discussed topical issues of Belarus - U.S. relations. Vladimir Makei thanked Jenifer Moore for her contribution to the development of bilateral cooperation between Belarus and the United States and presented the U.S. diplomat with the Partnership Award of the diplomatic service of the Republic of Belarus.

455.500 units of personal protective equipment, including 300.000 medical masks, 133.000 respirators, 6.000 goggles, 6.000 protective face shields and 10.500 medical gowns, were transferred to healthcare institutions of Minsk Oblast, Belarus 1 reports

All delivered medical supplies were checked for compliance with international quality and safety standards, they are intended for medical workers who are at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19.

The Belarusian Embassy in Uzbekistan together with the Belarusian airline Belavia organized charter flights to return Belarusians home, Belarusian Ambassador to Uzbekistan Leonid Marinich told BelTA.

The diplomat noted that the Uzbekistan government has suspended all types of international transport, including by road, air and rail since 16 March. “In this regard, evacuation of Belarusian citizens has become a task of overriding importance for the embassy. Thus, from mid-March to mid-July, more than 120 compatriots were brought home from Uzbekistan with our active participation. We used various options: a flight through Moscow, on private charter flights, transit routes through Minsk. In July, two charter flights were organized along the Tashkent-Minsk route,” Ambassador Leonid Marinich said.

About 250 people, including 29 citizens of Belarus, took advantage of this opportunity. “We are coordinating with Uzbekistan partners a possibility of organizing two more charters by the Belarusian carrier,” the ambassador added.

Another most important task for the embassy, according to the ambassador, is to help Belarusian road freight carriers. During the pandemic, assistance was provided to 19 drivers. “Each case is special, requiring an individual approach. The matter is not only about the crossing of the borders of Uzbekistan's neighbors by road but also assisting drivers- citizens of Belarus with the accelerated mandatory testing for coronavirus, improving conditions and reducing the length of stay in quarantine zones,” Ambassador Leonid Marinich noted.

Belarus and Hungary have agreed to develop an agreement on cooperation in training personnel for agricultural sectors, on establishing cooperation between agricultural universities, and on setting up a working group on cooperation in agriculture.

Such agreements were reached during the visit of a delegation of representatives of Belarusian agricultural enterprises led by Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Igor Brylo to Hungary, BelTA learned from the Belarusian embassy in Hungary.

During the visit, meetings were held with Hungarian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sandor Farkas and FAO Deputy Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia Nabil Gangi. The delegation visited the poultry farms of Babolna TETRA Kft. and held talks with the company's authorities. The talks focused on adopting the best Hungarian experience in the establishment of a breeding and genetics center for egg layers and the construction of a geese breeding factory. “Within several years Belarus will be able to develop its own cross to promote import substitution and create new jobs. Hungary's responsible approach to the implementation of the agreements reached at the highest level was confirmed by the presence of Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andras Baranyi at the talks,” the embassy said.

The members of the delegation visited the factories producing premixtures and fodder additives, processing milk, fruit and berries, and held talks in the HEPA Hungarian Export Promotion Agency and also with agricultural businessmen.

The meetings highlighted the parties' vision on the development of bilateral relations in poultry breeding. The participants of the meetings exchanged views on innovative approaches and developments applied in poultry farming, animal breeding, selection work, development of processing industry, as well as current models and opportunities to support export-oriented rural business.

The participants of the negotiations confirmed mutual intention to continue mutually beneficial cooperation in scientific and research activities, expressed readiness to exchange information related to the agro-industrial complex and relevant technical documentation.

50 new livestock facilities will open after reconstruction in the Minsk region.

These will be modern complexes with automated milking parlors, CTB reports.

The control system itself will monitor the quality and quantity of milk. All this was only dreamed of decades ago. This is the norm now. Thanks to modern technology, the work of milking machine operators has also been greatly facilitated.

“Our farm keeps calves from birth, we raise them to the highest-yielding cows, which give us 40–45 liters of milk a day. In 2019, we needed 8,600 liters per cow, ”says Svetlana Goncharevich, head of the MTF of the Veseysky pokrov agricultural enterprise in Slutsk region.

- Everything has changed, a lot has changed. Milking was - barrels milked, and now mechanized. Now the milking system is easier on the hands. The wages are good, we get good money, - shared the operator of the milking machine Natalya Berezovskaya.

Representatives of 17 countries will perform at the international children's music contest Vitebsk 2020 as part of the Slavianski Bazaar festival, director of the forum, Director General of the Vitebsk Cultural Center Gleb Lapitsky told a press conference, BelTA has learned.

According to Gleb Lapitsky, the festival has been a venue of love and friendship for 29 years. The complicated epidemiological conditions this year have shown what the friendship and true love to art is. All indifferent people are in Vitebsk today. These are performers, organizers, mass media and guests of the forum. “Four days of the forum will be eventful and turn the city into an open-air celebration. Everything has been done to produce as many positive emotions as possible. This year young performers from 17 countries will perform at the Vitebsk concert hall. Contestants [the international popular song performers contest Vitebsk 2020] from 14 states will perform in the Summer Amphitheater. They are currently having rehearsals,” the director said.

Vitebsk Mayor Vadim Zaryankin added that he is happy to see that the festival tradition continues. “The city has welcomed many guests today. We do our best to make Vitebsk comfortable for everyone,” the mayor said.

Today, the Summer Amphitheater will host an official opening ceremony of the 29th edition of the International Arts Festival Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk. In the afternoon, a new star will be lit up in the Laureates' Square near the Summer Amphitheater. The star will bear the name of Philipp Kirkorov, the winner of the special award of the Belarusian president “Through Art - to Peace and Mutual Understanding”.

The 29th edition of the International Arts Festival Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk will take place on 16-19 July. The major events of the festival will be the international contest of popular song performers Vitebsk 2020 and the international children's music contest Vitebsk 2020.