Volozhin Region
Executive Committee

These enterprises include Zhabinka Sugar Refinery, Skidel Sugar Refinery, Gorodeya Sugar Refinery, and Slutsk Sugar Refinery. These Belarusian enterprises will be able to supply beet pulp to China from 30 October.

The Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry, the Belgospishcheprom food industry concern, and the Belarusian Embassy in China in association with China's General Administration of Customs completed the work to get Belarusian beet pulp makers accredited for export to China, BelTA learned from the embassy. These enterprises include Zhabinka Sugar Refinery, Skidel Sugar Refinery, Gorodeya Sugar Refinery, and Slutsk Sugar Refinery. These Belarusian enterprises will be able to supply beet pulp to China from 30 October. Batches should be bundled with a phytosanitary certificate that has been recently harmonized with China.

Minsk hotels have been more popular this year than in 2018. Their occupancy rate increased by nearly 6% while the export of tourism services amounted to about $49 million in January-August, BelTA learned from Yuri Natychko, Deputy Head of the Central Office for Consumer Market of the Minsk City Executive Committee, on 30 October.

Minsk hotels demonstrated the growth rate of the export of tourism services as high as 118%. The official noted that virtually all the hotels in Minsk were used during the 2nd European Games Minsk 2019. About 3,000 rooms in 25 hotels were booked as official accommodation. The average occupancy rate during the 2nd European Games Minsk 2019 was 74% and peaked at over 85%. There are 54 hotels and seven hostels in Minsk. They offer 6,200 rooms and can welcome over 11,000 guests.

In January-August 2019 the average occupancy rate of Minsk hotels was close to 55%, nearly 6% up from January-August 2018. Municipal hotels are more popular, with their occupancy rate close to 58%. Two new hotels have been opened in Minsk this year to offer 161 rooms to 343 people at a time. Three hostels have been opened as well to offer 37 rooms to about 180 people. Most of the people staying at Minsk hotels are foreign citizens (over 70%).

Minsk Oblast and the Czech Republic are interested in close cooperation, experience exchange, and boosting export and import of goods and services, including through joint ventures, Minsk Oblast Vice Governor Nikolai Rogashchuk said as he met with a Czech delegation led by Czechia Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Martin Tlapa during their visit to Minsk Oblast, BelTA has learned.

The Czech delegation decided to visit Minsk Oblast thanks to cooperation between the chambers of commerce and industry of Belarus and Czechia. “We hope to sign new agreements and contracts. This year, the export of goods from Minsk Oblast totaled almost $18 million. We still have a trade deficit with Czechia, with import to Minsk Oblast down by 13%. Export growth was twice as fast as import growth. We will try to find new areas of common interest in establishing joint ventures and supplying products to Czechia,” Nikolai Rogashchuk said.

Minsk Oblast major exports to Czechia include fertilizers by Belaruskali and aluminum products by the free economic zone Minsk resident company AluminTechno. Major imports are cardboard, paper, and air conditioning systems. Cooperation between Czechia and Minsk Oblast hold great promise, Martin Tlapa believes. “We are interested in implementing new projects. I would also like to note that Czechia is a kind of a gateway to the European Union for Belarus,” Martin Tlapa said.

Minsk Oblast and Czechia have established relations not only in business and economy, but also in sport and humanitarian matters. For example, in 2019 Belarusian specialists took part in a business forum and a mechanical engineering expo in Czechia. Minsk Oblast also has good relations with its twin region Vysocina Region in training rescue workers, the two regions constantly exchange delegations of rescue services of the emergencies ministries of the two countries. Moreover, both Czechia and Minsk Oblast hosted joint events of children's and junior ice hockey teams in August. “We are stepping up fruitful cooperation, because Belarus is open and ready for a dialogue with all countries,” Nikolai Rogashchuk stressed.

The Czech delegation will stay in Minsk Oblast for two days and will then visit Vitebsk Oblast.

Chairman of the EOC Coordination Commission Spiros Capralos thanked friendly Belarus for hosting the multi-sport forum at the highest level as he made a report on the 2nd European Games 2019 at the 48th General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees, BelTA learned from the press service of the NOC of Belarus.

“Recently, we often visited the Belarusian capital and saw the work of all those who worked on the preparations for the games. Everyone involved wanted to achieve one and the same goal. The experience of the European Games in Minsk will be a good example for the host of the 3rd European Games in Krakow and the Malopolska region of Poland in 2023,” Spiros Capralos said. Belarus received the right to host the 2nd European Games during the meeting of the 45th EOC General Assembly in Minsk in October 2016. Belarus won 69 (24 gold, 16 silver, 29 bronze) medals and placed second in the medal standings at the 2nd European Games.

The China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone was named the Eastern European Industrial Project of the Year by the EuropaProperty agency, BelTA learned form the industrial park.

The annual awards ceremony of the 9th EuropaProperty CEE Investment Awards was held in Warsaw on 24 October. Taking part in the event were more than 400 investors, developers, and professionals in the real estate industry. The agency regards the Great Stone as the most advanced and important industrial platform not only in Belarus, but also in Eastern Europe, EuropaProperty Head Craig Smith said.

“Since its establishment, the park has demonstrated good dynamics of development, efficient planning and management of large-scale projects,” Craig Smith noted. “We would like to honor the achievements of the park and its important role in the market in terms of attracting companies from Asia, Russia, Western Europe, and the US,” he added. EuropaProperty is a leading information and analysis agency in the commercial real estate industry and related industries in Central, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, the Baltic states, Russia, and the CIS.

It also organizes large-scale events for professionals in the commercial real estate industry. 

The Independent Observer (IO) Team of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has praised the anti-doping program at the 2nd European Games in Minsk, BelTA learned from the press service of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus.

Head of the IO Team Hamish Coffey stressed that the anti-doping program implemented at the 2nd European Games was comprehensive, robust and risk-based and commended the EOC and the Minsk European Games Organizing Committee (MEGOC) for their efforts in protecting the rights of clean athletes and protecting the integrity of the event. “In the final report, the IO Team have highlighted the strengths of the program, as well as recommendations for the EOC to consider for future editions of the Games,” Hamish Coffey said.

The IO Team comprised Olivier Banuls from the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), Shafag Huseynli from the Azerbaijan National Anti-Doping Agency (AMADA), and Florence Lefebvre-Rangeon from the Government and National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) Relations, WADA. The World Anti-Doping Agency will present its Independent Observer (IO) Team's Report regarding the anti-doping program at the Minsk European Games at the EOC General Assembly which will be running in Krakow on 25-26 October.

Ministerial consultations on interaction of the CIS member states with the European Union, other multilateral European organizations, NATO, the OSCE and on cooperation in security in Europe will be held in the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk on 24 October, BelTA learned from the press service of the CIS Executive Committee.

Participants of the meeting are set to discuss implementation of the agenda of the Eastern Partnership initiative, relations between countries of Central Asia and the European Union and between Russia and the EU. The meeting will also touch upon coordination of positions of the CIS member states regarding interaction with NATO.

Moreover, representatives of the foreign ministries will consider priorities of the CIS countries in the OSCE, coordinate their positions ahead of the OSCE Ministerial Council due in Bratislava on 5-6 December, and evaluate project and field activities of the OSCE within the territory of the CIS member states.

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko will hold talks with Cuban President Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez in Minsk on 23 October. The Cuban president is set to pay an official visit to Belarus, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian leader.

The parties are expected to discuss issues of bilateral and international agendas, outline areas for further cooperation. Special attention will be given to the trade and economic sector, including the implementation of joint projects in industry, agriculture, pharmaceutics, and IT.

The parties are also set to sign a number of international documents to expand cooperation between Belarus and Cuba in various areas. Aleksandr Lukashenko and Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez will sign a joint statement as well.

The international exhibition of equipment and technologies for forestry, timber and furniture industries Woodworking 2019 will be running in Minsk from 22 to 25 October, BelTA learned from the Minskexpo exhibition company.

The expo will showcase the latest achievements and tendencies in the forestry industry and will encompass all stages of the woodworking process. The event will feature more than 100 companies from 14 countries: Belarus, Austria, Italy, Germany, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Turkey, Ukraine, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia. Over half of the participants will be from abroad. Visitors of the expo will be invited to get familiar with vehicles and machines for transporting, storing, and packing products, and also equipment for special processing and manufacturing operations. The expo will demonstrate woodworking instruments, tools for machines, technical equipment for wood waste disposal, technologies for energy saving and environmental protection, and software.

Utilizing wood waste for energy generation has become a more prominent topic in recent years in the context of the search for alternative energy sources. This is why the expo will include the separate section Bioenergy 2019. It will feature renewable energy sources, biomass, bioprocesses, and technologies and equipment for producing and burning biofuels. The program of the expo will also include business events. The exhibiting companies will make special offers and give free consultations to visitors, demonstrate their machines in action and highlight their advantages, and discuss important matters of the industry. The exhibition is an annual event held since 1993. It is organized by the Minskexpo exhibition company.

HC Dinamo Minsk has ranked most-attended club among the KHL teams. On average, a game of the Belarusian team drew 13,098 fans, BelTA learned from the website of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation.

Kazakhstan's HC Barys placed second with 12,127 spectators on average. HC SKA from Saint Petersburg rounded out the top three (12,045). Dinamo Minsk reported a 36% increase in attendance year-on-year. The least-attended club was Beijing-based HC Kunlun Red Star. The club averaged 2,581 people following four home games. The top three least-attended clubs also included two Russian clubs: HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (3,229) and HC Admiral Vladivostok (3,987).