Volozhin Region
Executive Committee

Venues to host the 11th Forum of the Regions of Belarus and Russia, traditionally held under the auspices of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia and slated to take place in Vitebsk Oblast in 2024, were reviewed at a meeting headed by Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalya Kochanova in Polotsk on 23 December, BelTA has learned.

The upcoming Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia will be co-hosted by Vitebsk, Polotsk, and perhaps Novopolotsk. One of the venues in ancient Polotsk will be the former House of Officers, which is currently under renovation. The facility is located in the central part of the city near the district executive committee. It is the only surviving building of the 1930-1940s. Its architecture reflects the style of the Stalinist period. It was commissioned in 1940 and was then called the House of the Red Army. During the Great Patriotic War it housed a German military unit, and a hospital. As the city was liberated from the Nazis the building was 70% destroyed. Its interior was almost destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt in 1947, and changed its name to the House of Officers.

For many years, the House of Officers hosted the city's most important events. The building was run by various institutions and organizations, and in 2021 the former House of Officers was handed over to Saint Euphrosyne Polotsk State University.

Natalya Kochanova reviewed the facility and assessed the progress of works. Rector of Saint Euphrosyne Polotsk State University Yuri Romanovsky told the chairwoman of the Council of the Republic how the building would look like according to the project, what rooms and halls would be located inside. “It is necessary to make its colors to harmonize with the surrounding buildings. Polotsk is well-known for its architecture, it should be taken into account,” the speaker said.

By 10 June 2024 all the facilities meant for hosting the 11th edition of the Forum of the Regions of Belarus and Russia should be ready. This task was set before the Vitebsk Oblast authorities by the chairwoman of the Council of the Republic.

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Many people are concerned about radiation monitoring within the grounds of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP). It is conducted round the clock, Belarusian Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich said in an interview with the Economy of Belarus magazine.

“Information is analyzed both at the site of the nuclear plant and in the monitoring area - at the posts of the automatic radiation monitoring system. There are nine of them in total, and one more is located in the urban settlement of Svir, Myadel District, Minsk Oblast (outside the monitoring zone). Radiation monitoring data are available online. All necessary information can be found on the BelNPP website,” the energy minister said.

Information about the current values of gamma radiation dose rate is also displayed on the information boards in Svir, agro-towns Vornyany, Podoltsy, Rymdyuny, villages Goza, Chekhi, Markuny, Chernishki, and Olkhovka. BelNPP regularly exchanges data on the state of radiation situation with the state authorities.

The BelNPP information center organizes tours to the plant. In 2022 the number of visitors increased by more than one third compared to the previous year - up to 3,500 people. In addition to school and university students, young specialists, the excursion groups include teams of enterprises and organizations of various sectors of the economy, representatives of ministries, public organizations, foreign delegations from more than 15 countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, China, and Vietnam.

The plant regularly organizes press tours for Belarusian and foreign mass media and bloggers.

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The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus has summed up the national contest dedicated to the Year of Peace and Creation, BelTA has learned.

The jury, which included leading scientists of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, summed up the results of the national contest dedicated to the Year of Peace and Creation. 218 entries were named winners. The best will receive awards: diplomas and prizes.

"This is the third time we have held a national contest dedicated to the theme of the year. It has already become a tradition for us. This time, the theme is the Year of Peace and Creation. This year, more than 1,000 people from different parts of our country took part in the contest. These are mainly young people - children, schoolchildren and students, but there are also adults. The interest in the event was great. People sent us stories, poems, songs and arts and crafts. We have 7 nominations in which we will award the winners. We also launch an exhibition of the best works," said Vladimir Gusakov, Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

He stressed that the selection was tough, but each work was interesting in its own way.

"We will reward all the participants. It is also important that people respond very actively to such contests. For example, next year has been declared the Year of Quality, and we will also hold a contest on this topic, because this is a very important issue. I think that we will have as many participants and entries," Vladimir Gusakov added. “The contest is organized by the Academy of Sciences, and it is really very prestigious for many young people who plan to go into science. Thus, the contest also nurtures patriotism in young people and attract them to science."

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A direct flight will connect Minsk and the Chinese city of Sanya, Hainan Province, BelTA has learned.

From January 2024, the Chinese airline will launch a direct flight from the city of Sanya, Hainan Province, to Minsk using an Airbus A330-300 (279 seats in Economy Class and 24 in Business Class). Flights will be operated twice a week (on Tuesdays and Saturdays).

The new flight will contribute to the development of tourism, economic and trade relations between the two countries and promotion of mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of the two countries. "The launch of this flight is another milestone in our relations. This will open up new opportunities not only for tourism and recreation, but also for establishing mutually beneficial business cooperation," Minister Counselor of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Belarus Luo Shixiong said.

"This is a new promising destination for Chinese tourists. Belarus is a clean country with a good ecology. Citizens of the People's Republic of China will be interested in agro-ecotourism, sport, business, and health tourism here," said Zhao Qingqiu, head of the Committee for Tourism Cooperation with the People's Republic of China at the Belarusian Union of Travel Industry, Secretary General of the Association of Chinese Companies in Belarus. “I think the price of tickets will be affordable for Belarusians. We are now studying the market. We plan to sell not only tickets, but also offer tickets with vouchers. The flight will be 11 hours long."

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It is important to support the volunteer movement in the CIS, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said at a meeting of the CIS Heads of Government Council in Moscow on 18 December, BelTA has learned.

Roman Golovchenko lauded the practice of declaring thematic years in the CIS to concentrate joint efforts on important topics. The year 2023 was the Year of the Russian Language as a Language of Interethnic Communication in the CIS and logically ended with the agreement to set up the International Organization for the Russian Language. For us, the Russian language is the language of interstate and interethnic communication, a means of cultural, scientific, educational and interpersonal communication. This is not only an opportunity to speak the same language with colleagues in the CIS, but also with millions of people around the world," the Belarusian prime minister stressed.

Next year has been declared the Year of the Volunteer Movement in the CIS. "Volunteers are people with a big heart and an active civic position. The role of the volunteer movement in the development of modern civil society is steadily growing. It is important to support and strengthen the values of volunteering, especially among young people," Roman Golovchenko emphasized.

According to him, in recent years the youth theme has been increasingly gaining momentum in the CIS. Progress in any area of cooperation is impossible without the involvement of the younger generation. The CIS holds a huge number of events on youth topics. The prime minister said that the new international project "CIS Youth Capital" will be launched next year. In 2024, this status will go to Tashkent.

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The nomination of candidates for deputies has started in Belarus, BelTA learned from the Central Election Commission (CEC).

Registered political parties, labor collectives and citizens have the right to nominate candidates for deputies through signature collection.

The CEC recalled that persons seeking nomination and registration as parliamentary candidates must be Belarusian citizens, at least 21 years old, permanently living in the Republic of Belarus. To be nominated as candidate to the local Council of Deputies, Belarusian citizens should be at least 18 years old and live or work in the electoral district of the respective local Council of Deputies. Citizens of the Russian Federation permanently residing in the Republic of Belarus can also take part in local elections.

Useful information for persons seeking nomination as deputies, as well as templates of documents required for nomination are available on the website of the Central Election Commission of Belarus.

Nomination of candidates for deputies will be running until 15 January 2024.

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On 12 December 2023 the Council of Ministers of Belarus passed Resolution No. 869 to terminate the agreement between the government of the Republic of Belarus and the government of Ukraine on cooperation in science and technology. The document was published on the National Legal Internet Portal, BelTA has learned.

The resolution terminated the Belarus-Ukraine intergovernmental agreement on sci-tech cooperation that was signed in Kiev on 17 December 1992.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was instructed to send the notice of termination of the agreement.

The resolution came into force on the day it was passed.

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Minsk has made it to the 10 best places to travel with friends among Russian visitors in December, BelTA has learned.

Trips to the Belarusian capital are booked for an average of three days.

According to the Russian hotel and apartment booking service, the rankings also includes St. Petersburg, Moscow, Sochi, Kazan, Yalta, Gelendzhik, Krasnaya Polyana, Kaliningrad and Krasnodar.

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The Belarusian State Pedagogical University and the Northwest Normal University of China signed an additional agreement on cooperation on student exchange programs, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian university.

The Northwest Normal University hosted the international forum on pedagogical education “Asia-Europe 2023 and the State and Prospects of Openness of Higher Education of the Past Decade seminar. Rector of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University Aleksandr Zhuk made a report on continuous training of pedagogical staff in Belarus on the basis of cluster interaction at the plenary session of the international forum. The university delegation also took part in the discussion of the problems of international pedagogical interaction in education, the participants exchanged opinions on reforming and developing modern pedagogical education, internationalization of education, joint activities of institutes and universities in talent education.

In the course of the forum, the rectors of the universities signed an additional agreement on cooperation on student exchange programs. The final part of the negotiations was an agreement to open a joint educational program at the level of general higher education in the musical art specialty next academic year.

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Chair of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalya Kochanova hosted a meeting to discuss fur production at the Belarusian National Union of Consumer Societies (Belkoopsoyuz). Taking part in the meeting were representatives of the government, Belarusian state light industry concern Bellegprom and Belkoopsoyuz, BelTA reports.

The meeting at the Council of the Republic was held in furtherance of the 24 November meeting with the team of the GNL design center of the Belkoopvneshtorg enterprise of Belkoopsoyuz. Now this team works for Grodnokoopmekh. It was agreed at the meeting to hold another discussion on the ways to increase efficiency of the fur workshop.

Natalya Kochanova noted that Grodnokoopmekh's department for the production and sale of fur products has a good team. The products are known not only in Belarus, but also far beyond. “We agreed that you would put forward proposals on how to retain this team, specialists, and what decisions should be made by Belkoopsoyuz to keep this organization afloat,” the speaker said opening the meeting.

Several issues were discussed at the meeting, including salaries. The chair of the Council of the Republic urged to raise salaries, but remarked that pay rises should be earned. “Nobody says that salaries will be paid for nothing,” the speaker emphasized.

She also focused on the personnel issues. Until recently, the team had 50 people, by now only 17 remained. Thus, the participants of the meeting discussed measures to resolve the personnel issues. There is a shared understanding that it will not be easy to do. “We understand how difficult it is today to find qualified professionals in the light industry,” noted Natalya Kochanova.

The meeting preceded Natalya Kochanova's meeting with the staff of Grodnokoopmekh's department for the production and sale of fur products.

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