Volozhin Region
Executive Committee

MOSCOW, 28 September (BelTA) – Quotas for admitting Belarusian students into Russian universities should be considerably increased. The statement was made during the panel session held as part of the 7th Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia on 28 September to discuss education as the foundation of historical memory and further integration development of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, BelTA has learned.

In his speech Executive Director of the Foreign Policy Studies Association named after Andrei Gromyko, Prorector of the State Academic University for the Humanities (GAUGN, Russia) Vyacheslav Sutyrin said that since 2013 the number of Belarusian students studying at Russian universities has been halved to 10,700 people. He pointed out that the figure was registered before the pandemic and more than half of the figure – 5,676 people – are extra-mural students. Meanwhile, since 2013 the number of Belarusian students in Polish universities has increased by 2.5 times to about 7,000 at present. In other words, there are more Belarusian students in Poland than full-time Belarusian students in Russia.

Talking about the overall dynamics in the Eurasian Economic Union, he mentioned that while there were over 75,000 students from EAEU countries in Russian universities in 2013, the number reached 84,000 in 2019. “So, the number has increased but thanks to citizens of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan while cooperation with Belarus has shrunk,” Vyacheslav Sutyrin pointed out. “We understand that the continuation of today's trends will lead to weaker friendly ties between our nations in the near future.”

The official believes that these trends are not natural. “They don't even reflect the structure of economic relations between our countries,” he stressed. “Belarus has a well-developed manufacturing sector. Not only Belarus is proud of many Belarusian enterprises, our entire Eurasian space is proud of them. Certainly, Belarusian products with a high added value sell in remote countries, too, but they are mostly exported to Russia. If fewer and fewer Belarusians and Russians study together, one wonders for how long we will be able to maintain the structure of our economic ties.”

“This is why it is advisable to consider Belarusian-Russian programs on academic mobility and to consider an increase in quotas for Belarusian students in Russia,” Vyacheslav Sutyrin concluded.

In last March, a woodworking workshop of the Pukhovichi forestry enterprise was created in Maryina Gorka, where at first one sawing line operated, mounted on the basis of machines that were transported from the Shatsk woodworking site. By the end of the year, this equipment produced more than 3.5 thousand cubic meters of sawn timber, writes the newspaper "Pukhavitsky Naviny".

This year the volume of woodworking in the workshop has increased. For 8 months, they amounted to 8399 cubic meters. Such a significant increase is provided by the second sawmill line installed last fall and launched in January this year, consisting of five new Walter machines.

The products manufactured on these technological lines (edged softwood lumber) are of high quality. It is sent mainly for export.

Due to the modernization of the workshop, the proceeds from the export of products increased significantly. For 8 months of this year, it amounted to nearly 1 million 100 thousand dollars.

Woodworking is carried out with virtually no waste. Fuel chips are also exported, which were sold for $ 62.8 thousand in 8 months. More than 83 thousand dollars were received from the sale of low-grade timber. Sawdust is also in demand, the sale of which this year has brought the forestry enterprise more than 27 thousand dollars.

The products of the woodworking shop are currently supplied mainly to Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands.

- The situation with the spread of the coronavirus in the world, due to which the production of products of many enterprises abroad has decreased, practically did not affect the work of our workshop, - says Andrey Sakovich, head of the woodworking workshop. - Foreign partners to whom we send our products strictly fulfill their contractual obligations. And we, in turn, strictly adhere to the delivery schedule.

The possibilities of the woodworking workshop are planned to be expanded further, but the enterprise does not forget about providing workers with good working conditions. In the summer, the renovation of the administrative building was completed, which has utility rooms, showers, and a room for eating. A shed was built for storing export products, the main part of the workshop territory was asphalted.

Today, about 50 people work in the woodworking shop of the Pukhovichi forestry enterprise. The work is organized in two shifts of 12 hours. The machines are only stopped for a short time for maintenance. Everyone understands the importance of making the most of them.

MINSK, 24 September (BelTA) – As of 24 September, 73,733 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.

A total of 76,651 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country so far. Belarus has performed 1,776,271 tests.

A total of 802 COVID-19 patients suffering from a number of chronic diseases have died in Belarus.

MINSK, 23 September (BelTA) – As of 23 September, 73,564 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.

A total of 76,357 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country so far. Belarus has performed 1,759,393 tests.

A total of 796 COVID-19 patients suffering from a number of chronic diseases have died in Belarus.

MINSK, 22 September (BelTA) – Winter grain has been planted in Belarus on the area of 723,800 hectares, which makes up 50% of the plan, BelTA learned from the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry.

As of 22 September, grain and leguminous crops (excluding maize) were harvested on the area of 2.155 million hectares, or 99.4% of the plan. Harvesting was completed in Brest Oblast and Grodno Oblast. Gomel Oblast harvested 99.9% of the area (338,300 hectares), Minsk Oblast gathered 99.4% (488,900 hectares), Mogilev Oblast harvested 98.8% (314,600 hectares), Vitebsk Oblast cropped 98.6% (345,200 hectares).

Maize in Belarus was cropped on the area of 391,900 hectares, 32.1% of the plan. Some 388,000 hectares of silage and green forage were combined (39.7% of the plan). Some 9,198,000 herbage was gathered, with the average yield of 263.2 centners per hectare.

Belarusian agricultural workers have harvested 8.041 million tonnes of grain. The average yield was 36.8 centners per hectare (in 2019, the yield as of the same date was 31.1 centners per hectare). Minsk Oblast harvested more than 2 million tonnes of grain, Grodno Oblast over 1.5 million tonnes, Brest Oblast over 1.3 million tonnes, Mogilev Oblast over 1.1 million tonnes, Vitebsk Oblast over 1 million tonnes, and Gomel Oblast over 900,000 tonnes.

Some 832,100 tonnes of hay (82.4% of the plan), 13.228 million tonnes of haylage (105%) and 8.083 tonnes of silage (42.2%) were stocked. In total, there are plans to procure 9.3 million tonnes of fodder units of grass feed, most of them in Minsk Oblast and Brest Oblast. By this time, 67.2% of the plan has been fulfilled.

MINSK, 21 September (BelTA) – As of 20 September, 73,265 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.

A total of 75,674 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country so far. Belarus has performed 1,730,754 tests.

A total of 780 COVID-19 patients suffering from a number of chronic diseases have died in Belarus.

MINSK, 18 September (BelTA) – Housing construction should pick up speed in Minsk satellite towns, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he visited MAPID, Minsk Housing Construction Company, on 18 September, BelTA has learned.

The head of state reaffirmed his demand to scale down housing construction in Minsk in order to avoid overpopulation. “This is not just a conversation. This matter will be closely monitored. We need to build housing in such a way that workforce will be distributed evenly across the country,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The president was informed that about 600,000 square meters of housing is built in Minsk every year. “We plan to keep it up, but there will be redistribution in favor of satellite towns. These are great places to build new homes. We see by the example of Smolevichi that people willingly move there, thus we will keep working on it. We are building new homes in Smolevichi. Rudensk is another promising site taking into account the construction of companies there (Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation and others), therefore we will actively develop this area and build commercial housing there, among other things,” Minsk Mayor Vladimir Kukharev said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko asked about the state of affairs with housing waiting lists in Minsk: what groups of people and how fast are provided with housing. A special attention was paid to families with many children. According to the Minsk City Executive Committee, 4,030 families with many kids will be able to start housing construction this year and 3,500 families next year. “After that large families will be on housing waiting lists not longer than a year. According to our estimates, every year 1,600 families will be able to start housing construction in the future,” Vladimir Kukharev informed.

Top on the agenda was also construction of social housing and housing for those in need of better living conditions.

Discussing the construction of rental housing, the head of state asked who was the customer of such construction projects. The Minsk mayor informed that in order to speed up the process, a decision was made that a developer should also act as a customer and that it should also sign a loan agreement with a bank. "A draft decree is in the works to allow developers to take out loans and start construction,” he explained. According to Vladimir Kukharev, this move is expected to significantly reduce rental housing construction time.

In addition, Vladimir Kukharev spoke about plans of the Minsk City Executive Committee regarding the neighborhoods where detached houses prevail. The corresponding analysis will be done this year. “After that, we will put forward proposals to change the general plan and work out a detailed development plan for these neighborhoods,” the mayor said.

MINSK, 17 September (BelTA) – As of 17 September, 72,967 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.

A total of 74,987 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country so far. Belarus has performed 1,686,218 tests.

A total of 771 COVID-19 patients suffering from a number of chronic diseases have died in Belarus.

Institutions of additional education for children and youth in Minsk Oblast presented opportunities in Nesvizh, Belarus 1 reports.

A large creative platform has united teams from 48 centers of the region. During the master classes, teachers, together with students, demonstrated achievements and introduced them to hobby groups. Weaving, straw weaving, wood carving, quilling - all these areas help to reveal the creative abilities of schoolchildren, as well as to keep children busy in their free time.

The best teachers of the institutions of additional education in the Minsk region were awarded.

MINSK, 15 September (BelTA) – The European Mobility Week in Minsk will feature the opening of a new cycling route and a bicycle race. On 22 September, motorists will be granted the right to use public transport free of charge, Deputy Chair of the Minsk City Committee of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Tatiana Dubik told journalists on 14 September, BelTA has learned.

A total of 68 Belarusian cities and towns, including Minsk, will join this year's European Mobility Week.

On 21-22 September, another experiment to measure the concentration of pollutants in the air and noise levels will be conducted in Minsk. The aim of the experiment is to show the difference in emissions and noise levels when residents of the city do not use their private vehicles.

The program will also include another traditional event – “To work by bicycle”. Residents who will opt for getting to work by bicycle will be offered fruit, coffee, and tea for free at six sites in the city, Tatiana Dubik said.

A new cycling route will open during the European Mobility Week. It will link three eco-routes in Minsk. The new route will invite people to go for a bike ride and observe birds. It will feature information boards telling about local bird species.

On World Car-Free Day on 22 September, motorists will be granted the right to use public transport free of charge upon the presence of the driver's license or the vehicle registration document.

On 22 September, the city will host a bicycle race featuring senior officials of the Minsk City Hall and the Belarusian Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry. The possible route is currently in the works, the details of the event will be revealed soon,” Tatiana Dubik noted.

The European Mobility Week will also feature the exhibition “Transport 100 years ago”. The exhibition will comprise three sections. The first section will demonstrate the beginning of urban mobility in Minsk at the beginning of the 20th century and public transport of that time. The second section will be dedicated to green projects of the capital, and the third one will showcase photos promoting eco-friendly means of transport. Minsk residents will be invited to go on an individual bicycle ride with an audio guide that will be available via a mobile application.

The European Mobility Week is held annually on 16-22 September and wraps up with World Car-Free Day. This year's campaign will focus on promotion of low-carbon transport and will be held under the motto “Zero-emission mobility for all. The motto of the year 2020 is “Choose your move”.