Volozhin Region
Executive Committee

The Minsk Zoo has a new addition: a baby llama was born on the night of 1 to 2 November. The cria is already shown to the public, BelTA learned from the zoo.

Usually crias are born in spring or summer, but sometimes things are unscheduled as with our llama couple: mother Vesnushka, who arrived at our zoo from the Grodno Zoo, and Shurik the father, who hails from Russia's Lipetsk. "After the birth, the baby llama immediately went to study the parents' enclosure,” the zoo said. The little llama is still covered with fluffy red fur, like all crias. She has a playful character. The zoo staff decided to wait with the moniker until the llama shows more individual traits. She has already tasted some hay, grain, and vegetables but will continue to combine them with the mother's milk for another half a year. “The cria takes a great interest in the world around her,” the zoo said. Opened in 1984, the Minsk Zoo has a great exhibit of exotic and rare species of the Belarusian fauna. The zoo is home to about 2,000 animals of 500 species.

The International Speed Skating season kicks off in Belarus with the first of six ISU World Cup Speed Skating events on 15 November, BelTA has learned.

Athletes will compete in six medal events, hunting for rating points and money prize from the International Skating Union. It is expected that taking part in the competitions will be 250 athletes from 27 countries, including well-known foreign athletes Kjeld Nuis (Netherlands), Martina Sablikova (Czech Republic), Pavel Kulizhnikov (Russia), Brittany Bowe (United States) and many others. Belarus will field 12 athletes, with Maryna Zuyeva and Ignat Golovatsiuk to compete in elite Group A. Other Belarusian skaters will compete for rating points in Group B.

Minsk Oblast's exports to China more than doubled in January-September 2019, Chairperson of the Economy Ministry of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee Tatyana Brantsevich told the media, BelTA has learned.

“In January-September, 2019 Minsk Oblast met all key development parameters. The task is to keep the pace. We are working with China. Minsk Oblast's exports to China more than doubled in the first 9 months of the year, from $178 million to $367 million (up 106%). This is one of the best records across the country, and we plan to encourage its further growth,” said Tatyana Brantsevich. Belarus' main exports to China is potash fertilizers (Belarusian Potash Company), meat products (Agrokombinat Dzerzhinsky, Veles-Meat, Smolevichi Broiler) and dairy products (enterprises of Myasomolprom Holding Company, Minoblmyasomolprom, Minsk Dairy Plant No.1, Slutsk Cheese Factory).

In January-September 2019, China's FDI in Minsk Oblast amounted to $115 million, up 9% year-on-year. Net FDI made up $23.8 million. The bulk of FDI was attracted for the BelGee car production project ($91.1 million). The Minsk Oblast Executive Committee plans to continue developing cooperation with China. The basis for new contracts was laid during the participation of a delegation from Minsk Oblast in the Second China International Import Expo in Shanghai. According to the chairperson of the Economy Committee, the event was attended by five enterprises of Minsk Oblast. One of them - Slutsk Cheese Factory - signed an agreement with Greenland Group for the supply of dairy products worth $100 million.

A delegation from Minsk Oblast also visited Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. At the meeting with the leadership of the Guangdong Union for International Scientific and Technical Cooperation with the CIS countries, a new medical equipment project was suggested for implementation in the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone. “I think it will be a breakthrough,” said Tatyana Brantsevich. “The healthcare technologies, proposed by the Chinese partner, have not been applied in Belarus before. The company has been certified for supplies to the European market and is interested in locating its manufacturing premises in the Great Stone Park. We have already sent an invitation. They will come to hold talks with the Healthcare Ministry on the possibility to apply this technology in the Belarusian healthcare sector. It will be a large-scale and significant project not only for Minsk Oblast, but also for the country in general,” she said.

Minsk Oblast has been developing multilateral cooperation with other countries, attracting resources for its economic development. In January-September 2019, the export growth made up 15%. “All economic sectors of the region have made a positive contribution to Gross Regional Product. The industrial sector accounts for more than 40% of GRP, so its contribution is the most significant,” said the chairwoman of the Economy Committee. “The enterprises of the Industry Ministry, which have reduced production, are of concern for now. We are working closely with the Industry Ministry on this matter. We are working out a set of measures for this and subsequent years. More than 70% of products made in Minsk Oblast are bound for exports. We must be competitive in other markets, otherwise there will be no future.”

The Belarusian government is inviting the World Bank to take part in a project to build a rail link between the Belarusian capital and Minsk National Airport.

The project was discussed during a meeting between Belarus' Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Kukharev and World Bank Country Manager for Belarus Alex Kremer on 13 November, BelTA has learned. “We would like to discuss our joint work on the project to build a rail link between Minsk and Minsk National Airport. This is a very important project,” Vladimir Kukharev said.

The construction of the rail link will provide better connectivity between Minsk and the airport, the deputy prime minister said. Simultaneously, the airport is planning the work to build a terminal and a runway. As it has been reported, several options of the project are on the table: the construction of a new rail line along Vaupshasov Street, the construction of a rail line along M2 Highway towards the airport, reconstruction of the existing rail line which is used for freight traffic.

The Belarusian capital Minsk is playing host to the 2019 Boxing EUBC Viktor Liventsev Memorial on 12-16 November, BelTA has learned.

The opening ceremony is scheduled for 18h00 on 12 November. The organizers of the tournament have prepared a special award, For Will to Win, which will be presented by Viktor Liventsev's family. According to chief national coach for boxing development with the Sport and Tourism Ministry Aleksandr Yermashevich, the national team will comprise Dmitry Deshkevich (57kg), Nikolai Shakh (57kg), Aleksandr Rodionov (69kg), Vitaly Bondarenko (75kg), Gleb Sinkevich (81kg), Uladzislau Smiahlikau (91kg), Yulia Apanasovich (51kg), Yana Burim (51kg), Alla Yarshevich (60kg), and Darya Osmolovskaya (69kg).

Taking part in the competitions will be 140 athletes from Armenia, Belarus, England, France, Ghana, Greece, India, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Ukraine. The competitions are organized by the Belarusian Sport and Tourism Ministry, Minsk City Hall, National Olympic Committee and the Belarusian Boxing Federation. The Boxing EUBC Viktor Liventsev Memorial in Minsk is a continuation of traditional competitions for the Minsk Palace of Sports awards. Nine tournaments were held in the lifetime of Viktor Liventsev. After his death in 2009 it was decided to name the tournament after the well-known sport functionary, the Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 1958-1978, Viktor Liventsev served as Chairman of the BSSR State Committee on Physical Education and Sport. Over those two decades a number of large sport facilities and centers were built. Today, they are the main training centers for Belarusian Olympians: Staiki, Raubichi, Minsk Water Sports Center (today – Olimpiysky), and the national equestrian Olympic training center in Ratomka.

The international conference to discuss competition in industry-specific markets will take place in Minsk on 13-14 November. Digitalization and the challenges it brings will be among the key topics of the forum, Head of the International Finance Corporation Office in Belarus Olga Shcherbina told reporters on 11 November, BelTA has learned.

Olga Shcherbina noted that the conference caught the eye of international experts. More than 160 people have already registered. Panelists will discuss a number of topical issues, including promotion of competition in healthcare and in the market of foodstuffs. In addition to that, a series of trainings on competition policy and competition law kicked off in Minsk on 11 November. Keynote speakers include professor of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (Siberian branch) Irina Knyazeva and World Bank Group expert Adam Jasser.

Taking part in the events will be specialists of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade and teachers of Belarusian State Economic University. They will study various ways to combat cartels and to control mergers and other matters. “Trainings will be very intensive. They are designed to strengthen the national capacity to promote competition and fight monopolies in Belarus,” Olga Shcherbina said. This event is stipulated by the cooperation agreement signed by the International Finance Corporation and the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade in April 2019. The parties outlined a great number of areas of collaborative work. They include drafting a competition promotion program and analyzing the country's competition law.

The international conference on promoting competition in industry-specific markets (#CompetitionBelarus) will be held with the support of the International Finance Corporation and the Eurasian Antimonopoly Association. Invitations were also sent to Belarus' government members, representatives of the International Finance Corporation Office in Belarus, members of the Eurasian Economic Commission, heads of antimonopoly agencies and associations from Austria, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China, Latvia, Moldova, Russia and Romania.

The fourth round of political consultations between the ministries of foreign affairs of Belarus and Qatar took place in Minsk on 5 November, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Belarusian delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Dapkiunas; the Qatari delegation was led by Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmad Hassan al-Hammadi. The parties discussed the bilateral agenda, reviewed the state and prospects of the Belarus-Qatar relations, including a dialogue at the highest and high levels. “Top on the agenda was the opening of the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Minsk.

The diplomatic mission will start operating in the near future. Two Qatari diplomats have already arrived in Belarus to open the embassy,” the press service informed. The Belarusian and Qatari diplomats discussed ways to scale up bilateral trade and investment, as well as exchange of business delegations. They agreed that these and other issues should be discussed in more detail during the next meeting of the joint intergovernmental cooperation commission scheduled for next year. In addition, the leaders of the Belarusian and Qatari delegations exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East and the European region, and discussed the interaction of the two states in the United Nations and other multilateral international organizations.

New electric trains made by ZAO Stadler Minsk for the Minsk city metro company may be commissioned to transport passengers along the second line (Avtozavodskaya) of the capital city's metro system in Q1 2020, BelTA learned from Director of the state enterprise Minsk Metro Vladimir Sotnikov on 5 November.

In January 2017 Minsk Metro and Stadler Minsk signed a contract on purchasing ten metro trains (six four-car trains and four five-car trains). Loans were granted by banks against guarantees of the Minsk city administration. Six trains will be shipped to the customer this year. The other four will be delivered in 2020 on schedule. Two trains are already in the train yard Mogilevskoye. Another train will be delivered to the site this night. According to Stadler Minsk CEO Philipp Brunner, the remaining three four-car trains will be shipped within one month.

Vladimir Sotnikov Vladimir Sotnikov said: “The trains Minsk Metro uses now are designed to last for 31 years. They are pretty well worn-out. This is why the Minsk City Executive Committee backed our proposal to renew the rolling stock for the first line and the second one. These trains are owned by Stadler Minsk for now. They still have to go through trials to demonstrate fault-free performance. They will be used on the second line from time to time. Only after the relevant commission greenlights them, the trains will be used to carry passengers. So the trains will be commissioned by the end of the year and will possibly start carrying passengers along the second line in Q1 2020.”

“Four-car trains will be used to carry passengers along the second line until the third metro line is opened. Once it happens, the trains will be transferred to the third line while we will keep five-car trains here. We will continue renewing the rolling stock later on,” BelTA learned from the head of the train yard Mogilevskoye Yevgeny Talako. The first electric train of the M110 model was shipped to the customer in April 2019 and had to go through a set of trials on the existing lines through September. “There were certain things the manufacturer had to fix. I can say that today the first train is ready for acceptance and further operation,” the Minsk Metro director said.

Once the first five-car train is delivered to the customer, it will have to pass repeated tests to verify some parameters. Reporters were the first passengers to appreciate the new trains today. They lauded the spacious passenger compartment, the lower than usual noise levels, and power sockets for gadgets. They had an opportunity to watch the engine driver in action. Some even spent some time in the driver's seat while the train was steered by the automatic train operation system.

The Stadler Minsk factory was officially opened on 20 November 2014. The enterprise is part of the Swiss company Stadler Rail Group, which has been one of Europe's leading producers of railway rolling stock for over 75 years. Stadler Rail Group also has branches in Austria, Australia, Algeria, UK, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Czechia, Italy, and the USA.

Belarus' National Art Museum ranks high among the world's leading museums, Belarus Culture Minister Yuri Bondar said at the official ceremony celebrating the 80th anniversary of the museum, BelTA has learned.

“Eighty years is four generations of people. But for a cultural institution this might be a short period. However, thanks to its achievements and attitude to art, the National Art Museum has ranked high among the leading museums of the world,” Yuri Bondar said. Yuri Bondar stressed that the National Art Museum is well-known for its joint projects with such museums as Russia's State Tretyakov Gallery and State Hermitage Museum, and the Old Masters Gallery in Dresden.

“The museum annually hosts dozens of cultural events. Of course, the anniversary celebrations also honor the professional team of the museum. It includes remarkable people who dedicated their lives to art and constantly come up with new creative projects. We take pride in the collection of the National Art Museum that consists of more than 30,000 items that are carefully stored or exhibited,” he said. The National Art Museum is not just a temple of art but a facility that helps create the image of the country and its people, Belarus Deputy Information Minister Igor Buzovsky added. “You have become part of the spiritual and cultural life of our country. I hope that in future you will continue glorifying Belarus,” he noted.

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko sent his greetings to the team of the National Art Museum on the occasion of its 80th anniversary. The greetings were read out by First Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Maksim Ryzhenkov. Director General of the National Art Museum Vladimir Prokoptsov thanked the head of state on behalf of the staff of the museum. “We are happy to hear such words. We are moving forward, and I mean not only Belarusian museums, but the Belarusian national culture in general. We are grateful to the head of state for this, especially taking into account that the museum city block is built under his patronage. We will uphold the traditions started by our predecessors,” he said.

The event also featured a ceremony to honor the employees of the museum and a first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for a stamped envelope marking the anniversary. The celebrations of the National Art Museum anniversary kicked off on 24 January 2019. On that day, a commemorative plaque was installed and unveiled in the building in 29 Karl Marx Street that once hosted the State Art Gallery of the BSSR. This event marked a significant stage in the history of the art and cultural life of Belarus. The decision to set up an art gallery in the Belarusian capital was made on 24 January 1939 and gave an impetus to assembling collections of painting, sculpture, graphics, and applied arts. At present, the museum boasts a collection that covers the period of almost a thousand years.

The official described the construction of a factory in the industrial park to make Euro-6 engines using a complete fabrication cycle as a strategic direction in localizing the production of automobiles. The engines will be sold to BelGee and exported to Europe.

Plans have been made to build a factory in the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone to make engines compliant with Euro-6 emissions standards, BelTA learned from Belarusian First Deputy Industry Minister, Acting Director General of the automobile engineering company BelGee Gennady Svidersky on 1 November. The official described the construction of a factory in the industrial park to make Euro-6 engines using a complete fabrication cycle as a strategic direction in localizing the production of automobiles.

The engines will be sold to BelGee and exported to Europe. The official said: “Negotiations are in progress. The business plan is being developed. Intentions have already been expressed by Geely Company, Sinomach Company, and a resident company of the industrial park.” Additional talks will take place in November. The BelGee car factory was officially opened on 17 November 2017.

The new enterprise is located between Borisov and Zhodino and occupies 118ha. Belarus-made Geely cars are certified for compliance with technical regulations of the Customs Union and have been tested using EuroNCAP methods (frontal impact, side impact, and other kinds).