Volozhin Region
Executive Committee

Belarus has hosted 528,097 arrivals since the launch of the visa-waiver program for the neighboring EU countries, BelTA learned from the State Border Committee of Belarus.

Belarus has hosted 344,161 citizens of Lithuania, 34,602 non-citizens and 114,766 citizens of Latvia, and 34,568 Polish citizens.

Since 1 January 2023, Belarus has hosted 143,111 visa-waiver travelers from the neighboring countries of the European Union: 95,898 citizens of Lithuania, 26,632 citizens and 7,723 non-citizens of Latvia, and 12,858 Polish citizens.

More information about visa-free entry to Belarus is available on the website of the State Border Committee of Belarus and the mobile app Belarusian Border.

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We are planning to put the second unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP) into commercial operation by the end of the year, Olga Lugovskaya, the head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department at the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor), said in an interview with the STV channel on 30 April, BelTA has learned.

"At the moment, the unit is in the state of commissioning. We are carrying out a sequence of actions towards its commercial use. Nuclear fuel has been loaded. That is, we have already passed the stage of physical launch," Olga Lugovskaya said.

According to her, a permit has already been issued for the start-up of the unit. "This is where we are now. It is assumed that the unit will be put into commercial operation by the end of the year," she said.

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Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Colombia Nikolai Ovsyanko has held a meeting with Minister of Culture Jorge Zorro, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The meeting took place in Bogota on 27 April. The parties discussed the current state and opportunities for intensifying Belarusian-Colombian cooperation in culture, as well as the schedule of events for the near future.

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The Department of International Military Cooperation at the Defense Ministry hosted U.S. Defense Attaché in Belarus Jason Tucker, BelTA learned from the Defense Ministry.

The parties shared their views on regional security issues. Jason Tucker informed the Belarusian side on the planned actions of the U.S. armed forces during the Defender of Europe 2023 exercise.

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A plant designed to destroy pesticides is supposed to open in Belarus by the end of the year, BelTA learned from Belarusian First Deputy Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Minister Aleksandr Korbut.

Aleksandr Korbut said: “Pesticides were stockpiled in Belarus in the 1970s. This is why there are certain concerns that they may be harmful. As part of the international technical aid project on the sustainable management of persistent organic pollutants and chemical substances in the Republic of Belarus aka GEF-6 we've arranged an inspection of the remaining pesticide stockpiles. The trend is positive for now and there is no effect on the environment. Meanwhile, we are preparing a new project for the sake of extracting the pesticides, repackaging them, and storing them in Chechersk.”

In his words, pesticide recycling depends on the chemical composition of the pesticides. Pesticides that contain mercury can be recycled only by designated enterprises, which are available in France and Germany, for example.

“We expect that a Russian company or at least our investor will complete the commissioning of the pesticide recycling plant by the end of the year. It is supposed to get rid of not only pesticides that contain mercury. As part of the project we've inspected 1,000 barrels full of dangerous substances. We know the composition of each of them. This is why one can rest assured that the destruction of the pesticides will proceed in an environmentally safe manner. I'd like to note that the substances we will be unable to destroy will be transported out of the country,” the first deputy natural resources and environmental protection minister summarized.

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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) should offer all countries methods to minimize harm from unilateral coercive measures, Belarus' representative to the FAO Kirill Petrovsky said during a session of the FAO Council on global food security, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“There is a saying: A lie has a short life. I am confident that 2022 year was enough for the FAO Council to clearly understand that sanctions or unilateral coercive measures against fertilizers and food exist, that their lion's share has nothing to do with the crisis in Ukraine for the simple reason that they were introduced much earlier, and that the existence of sanctions is at least one of the reasons of multiple price increases,” the diplomat said.

In this regard, he suggested leaving this part of the discussion in the past. Especially since the last meeting of the Committee on World Food Security made it clear: it will not be possible to agree on anything with the countries that imposed these sanctions. “They are even prepared to vote to remove, erase, delete from the committee's report the very mention of the sanctions discussion, despite the fact that it actually took place. They should not be expected to acknowledge the effect of sanctions on hunger,” Kirill Petrovsky added.

He stressed that the rest of the world exists. In addition to one billion people living in countries that impose sanctions, there are seven billion others. The 800-plus million hungry people are among the remaining seven billion.

“These 7 billion people also see that the FAO, talking about the causes of hunger, ‘forgets' about unilateral coercive measures. This is what my letter to the chief economist of the FAO was about,” the Belarusian diplomat said. “Since we can't persuade some countries to stop hurting others, the FAO should at least identify this factor of influence on the food security and propose us all methods of minimizing the damage from unilateral coercive measures.”

Kirill Petrovsky explained his position on the Belarusian examples: “Since the U.S. and the EU imposed sanctions on the Belarusian producer of nitrogen fertilizers, it means we need to offer the world a wider use of currencies other than U.S. dollars and euros in settlements for nitrogen fertilizers. Lithuania closed access to the sea for Belarusian fertilizers. Hence, we need to create stable routes to deliver fertilizers and food, not subject to the political will of individual countries. And so on.”

“That is exactly the kind of work we expect FAO to do. This is what seven billion people that are now paying for someone else's ambitions are counting on,” the diplomat concluded.

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First Deputy Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) Leonid Dedul talked about planned innovations in the government policy on Chernobyl affairs in BelTA's press center.

Leonid Dedul said: “We look at the resolution of Chernobyl problems as a cohesive whole, including by means of improving the legislation. We may consider working out an individual law, which will combine the existing laws on the legal regime in the territories subjected to radioactive pollution as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant catastrophe and on social protection of affected citizens.”

Possible changes will be thoroughly analyzed. A roundtable session involving representatives of Gosatomnadzor and the parliament took place the other day. Participants of the roundtable session discussed what has to be done here and now in order to improve Chernobyl-related legislation. The conversation had been prompted by the institutional changes that happened in late 2022 – early 2023. Back then the Department for Alleviating Consequences of the Catastrophe at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was dissolved. Its functions were transferred to Gosatomnadzor and a number of other government bodies. The law on the legal regime in the territories subjected to radioactive pollution as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant catastrophe was amended.

Leonid Dedul went on saying: “We've also drafted the national policy in the area of nuclear and radiation safety. It deals with the Chernobyl legacy among other things. The document attracted a lot of interest during the defense of the national report on fulfilling the Convention on Nuclear Safety in Vienna. Experts from other countries wondered when the policy will be approved. The relevant presidential decree has been drafted. It has already been reconciled with interested parties. We expect it will be passed soon.”

Apart from that, a strategy on managing radioactive waste has been approved this year. The document provides for optimizing the facilities for burying decontamination products. One facility will be created for burying radioactive waste. The first stage of the facility is scheduled for commissioning by 2030. “We consider the already polluted territories as a possible location for this facility. Criteria will be worked out. Studies will be performed. Indicators will be compared. We practice a comprehensive approach to the choice of the location,” the official stressed.

Close attention is paid to the Polesie state radiation and ecology reserve as part of the work on Chernobyl-related problems. “It is unique experience for Belarus. The place is one of a kind in the entire world. It can be used for scientific purposes, for studies in the area of nuclear and radiation safety. Meanwhile, measures need to be taken to prevent its impact on the population,” Gosatomnadzor's representative noted.

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Seven import-substituting projects are being implemented by enterprises of the Belarusian state food industry concern Belgospishcheprom. Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Zayats mentioned it after OAO Spartak opened a new chocolate bar line on 20 April, BelTA has learned.

Leonid Zayats said that the new line commissioned by the Gomel-based company is an import-substituting one. He mentioned that Belgospishcheprom is busy implementing seven import-substituting projects like that.

The official said: “Work is in progress at the Kommunarka enterprise. Equipment will be installed there for processing cocoa beans. We are going to make the product that we now import from other countries. Literally in 2023-2026 we will make a cutting-edge modern enterprise that will supply our national confectionery industry and will be able to export to foreign markets.”

Projects are also being implemented at other enterprises and in other branches of the economy. Those include a margarine plant in Minsk, Slodych Company, and alcohol distilleries.

The deputy prime minister said: “All of it results in higher output of commercial products and additional earnings for the enterprise. And certainly, it represents weighty export potential. We are now trying to exclude as much as possible everything that we buy from other countries in order to offer an equal product with better quality to our consumers.”

Belgospishcheprom's performance in Q1 2023 was summarized in Gomel on 20 April.

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The share of cashless monetary transactions is growing in Belarus. Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) Pavel Kallaur made the statement during a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus on 19 April, BelTA has learned.

In his words, a system of cashless transactions for retail payments is actively developing in the country. “As of late 2022 the share of cashless money turnover in retail trade increased by 0.9% to 51%,” Pavel Kallaur said.

In 2014 the share was under 19%, the official clarified.

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The House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus has passed a bill on ratifying the agreement between the government of the Republic of Belarus and the government of the Russian Federation on cooperation in the management of spent nuclear fuel, BelTA has learned.

The bill was brought into the House of Representatives by the Council of Ministers on 7 March. It was developed for the sake of ratifying the agreement between the government of the Republic of Belarus and the government of the Russian Federation on cooperation in the management of spent nuclear fuel. The agreement was signed in Sochi on 21 November 2022.

The agreement regulates the import of irradiated fuel rod arrays of nuclear reactors into the Russian Federation for temporary technological storage and consequent processing followed by the return of radioactive waste to the Republic of Belarus. The fuel rod arrays of nuclear reactors are described as fuel rod arrays of Russian make, which are irradiated in a nuclear reactor of a nuclear power plant built in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, are extracted from the reactor and contain nuclear fuel.

Licenses (permits) will be required for cooperation within the framework of the agreement. The agreement specifies competent bodies: the Energy Ministry in Belarus and the state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom in Russia.

The competent bodies are supposed to appoint the relevant authorized organizations. The agreement stipulates that in order to transport the irradiated fuel rod arrays and consequently process them, contracts will be signed between authorized organizations. Among other things the contracts will stipulate the volume of cooperation, rights and obligations of authorized organizations and third-party contractors and other terms of cooperation.

In line with the agreement Belarus' competent body will be granted authority in line with Belarus' legislation to make decisions on transporting every batch of irradiated fuel rod arrays to Russia and on bringing radioactive waste back to Belarus.

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