Volozhin Region
Executive Committee

The Belavia national air carrier has extended suspension of flights to a number of destinations due to a suspension of international flights in a number of countries due to the coronavirus situation, BelTA learned from the official website of the airline.

Flights to Vienna will be suspended till 15 August, to Riga – till 16 August, to Larnaca – till 31 August, to Ashgabat till 1 September.

Flights to all destinations in Russia will be suspended till 21 August (Voronezh, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod till 24 October), to all destinations in Georgia – till 31 August.

Customers who purchased tickets for these travel dates will be able to apply for a refund or to reschedule the flight till 30 March 2021. Tickets can be refunded and flights can be rescheduled at company's offices and customer service centers. Customers will be able to change the date of travel only once.

The economy of the country and its national security depend on the power and reliability of Belarusian energy sector enterprises, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the meeting held on 13 August to discuss topical issues of the fuel and energy complex, BelTA informs.

“Let's try to see the full picture of the current operation and development prospects of this strategic industry – the fuel and energy complex. The entire economy and national security of our country depend on their reliability and power. The events of late 2019 and early 2020 showed it when we had to fight for a barrel of oil and a cubic meter of gas, which are now in plenty on the market,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.

The president remarked that the state had invested a lot of money in the modernization of the energy sector, including oil refineries. Right now these enterprises are as technologically advanced as enterprises in leading European countries. “Similar enterprises in Europe have the same technological level as our enterprises,” he said.

On commissioning the Belarusian nuclear power plant

“We are currently implementing the biggest investment project in the country's history, which is the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The construction of the first power-generating unit has been completed. Another crucial stage is still ahead – it is the inclusion of the nuclear power plant in the energy system of the country and the operation of the first power-generating unit at full capacity,” the head of state noted. According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, he is going to visit the Belarusian nuclear power plant and to take part in the inauguration ceremony.

He asked Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich about the readiness of the existing infrastructure to work in new conditions, about tariff forecasts and the possibility to reduce them for all categories of consumers. “This pertains to electricity,” the president specified.

The head of state also addressed the government. In particular, he asked how the additional volume of electricity which will emerge in Belarus soon will be used. “Who will buy it and how will we use it? What are the prospects of electricity export?” Aleksandr Lukashenko wondered.

On developing the petrochemical industry

The president also remarked that the modernization of Belarusian oil refineries – Naftan and Mozyr Oil Refinery - will be completed soon. He asked Chairman of Belneftekhim Concern Andrei Rybakov to report on the forecasts of the delivery and processing of oil by the end of the year and on the plans for 2021, on the stability of agreements concerning the alternative delivery of oil and gas to Belarus.

Another issue on the agenda is the development of infrastructure for the storage of oil and oil products. “What is the progress in the construction of a link between oil refineries? What is the progress in the modernization of these plants?” the head of state wondered. “We have specified the terms. Naftan should get new products in a month. I want to see these products with my own eyes. Welding works and installation of high-pressure pipelines should be completed at Mozyr Oil Refinery at the same time. What is the state of affairs here?”

Aleksandr Lukashenko added that the strategy to develop the petrochemical industry till 2030 is being implemented in Belarus. In this context, he asked the government what they were going to do with troubled enterprises of Belneftekhim Concern.

Three regions of Minsk Oblast have crossed the mark of 110.000 tons of threshed grain, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food said.

Agrarians of Nesvizh region threshed over 135 thousand tons of grain. In the Kopyl region - 122 thousand tons, in Slutsk - 111 thousand tons.

Among the leaders in terms of yield are Nesvizh District - 66 c / ha, Kletsk - 56 c / ha and Dzerzhinsk - 54 c / ha.

In total, 73% of the area was harvested in the region. About 1.44 million tons of grain and leguminous crops (without corn, buckwheat, millet) have been threshed with an average yield of 40 c / ha.

The Belarusian national air carrier Belavia will resume scheduled flights to Almaty and Nur Sultan on 17 August, BelTA learned from the airline's Facebook account.

Flights to Almaty will be operated on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Departure time from Minsk is at 20.05, arrival time in Almaty is at 3.55. Flight to Minsk will be performed on Thursdays and Sundays, with departure at 5.10 and arrival at 7.20.

Belavia will fly to Nur Sultan on Thursdays and Sundays at 20.15 with arrival at 3.15. Return flights will be operated on Mondays and Fridays at 4.15, with arrival in Minsk at 5.35 (the time for all airports is local). The company is also planning to increase the frequency of flights.

Belavia recommends checking travel restrictions before taking the flight.

Tickets are available at the website of the airline www.belavia.by.

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko convened a meeting to discuss topical issues on 12 August, BelTA informs.

“Before the election we agreed that we would meet a few days after the election campaign to discuss topical issues. It is clear that the priority tasks for the government bodies, in particular, for the Security Council (perhaps, especially for this agency) are to ensure security of our people, to protect the constitutional order, and to guarantee the normal operation of state administration bodies,” the head of state said.

He stressed that the economy remains a priority. “Therefore, the government needs to take all necessary additional measures, if needed, to ensure the smooth operation of the economy,” the president said.

“All people who want to work should have jobs and salaries. There should be job opportunities for those currently unemployed,” the Belarusian leader stressed. “The backbone of these so-called protests are people with the criminal past and currently unemployed people. Without jobs they just keep wandering around the city. Therefore, I strongly ask everybody to find a job.”

“I also want to warn some of our, mildly speaking, ‘bohemian' citizens: fake employment certificates will not do. Everything should be done in an honest and decent manner,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

He urged law enforcement bodies and public authorities to ensure the fulfillment of these instructions.

The participants of the meeting also discussed ideology, personnel policy, and work of mass media.

The Belarusian air carrier Belavia has extended suspension of air travel to Russia till 21 August, BelTA learned from the website of the airline.

Flights to Voronezh, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod have been suspended till 24 October. Suspension of the flights to Larnaca, Cyprus has been extended till 31 August.

Customers who purchased tickets for these travel dates will be able to apply for a refund or to reschedule the flight till 30 March 2021. Tickets can be refunded and flights can be rescheduled at company's offices and customer service centers.

The number of massive DDoS attacks against the infrastructure of Belarusian telecommunications companies as well as websites of government agencies and organizations was reduced considerably on 12 August, BelTA learned from the republican unitary enterprise National Traffic Exchange Center.

According to the source, emergency recovery work has been finished in the partner networks, which are located in neighboring countries. The republican unitary enterprise National Traffic Exchange Center has managed to fully restore access to Internet resources. Specialists of the enterprise continue working together with other Belarusian telecom carriers to restore equipment and resume access to the Internet. The work will be finished soon. The National Traffic Exchange Center offered apologies for the inconveniences.

The Polish-Belarusian relations should be based on the principles of mutual respect, non-interference and also mutually beneficial cooperation and friendship of Slavic peoples, reads a message of congratulations from Chairman of the Polska Patriotyczna party, Chairman of the Presidium of the National Council Pawel Zieminski to Aleksandr Lukashenko on the occasion of his victory in the presidential election, BelTA has learned.

“We address you the sincerest congratulations on your victory and re-election to the post of the President of the Republic of Belarus by the overwhelming majority of Belarusian people, with the turnout being very high. We convey you congratulations on behalf of the Polska Patriotyczna party. They, as we know, are shared by a huge number of Poles who have a warm regard for Belarus and brotherly Belarusian people. The policy and personal approach of the president, who is committed to the sovereignty of the state, international law and right of peoples to self-determination and independent domestic and foreign policy and own path of development towards the prosperity of the society, have long enjoyed respect of Poles,” the message reads.

“You demonstrated courage and responsibility as you resisted the use of the pandemic in global manipulations of people and entire nations, as you confronted the cynical use of the pandemic for economic and political gains. Such a position deserves admiration). This makes us believe that domestic and sovereign relations are still possible and should serve as an example for other leaders and nations,” Pawel Zieminski said.

“Despite the ‘media noise” directed against you and the attempts of the Polish authorities to influence the international affairs of Belarus, which many Poles do not support, the Polish-Belarusian relations should be based on the principles of mutual respect, non-interference and also mutually beneficial cooperation and friendship of Slavic peoples,” the head of the Polish party said.

Chairman of the Belarusian state food industry concern Belgospishcheprom Anatoly Buben talked to reporters about the measures taken as a result of the government conference hosted by the head of state in order to effectively develop sugar industry enterprises, BelTA has learned.

The official noted that sugar prices had plummeted on the global market. “Our prime cost is below the prices we sell at. This is why we are working to reduce the prime cost,” he explained. At present the prime cost of one tonne of sugar made by Belarusian enterprises stands at $350, down from $500 last season. The prime cost was reduced thanks to internal reserves, lower costs, and state support. “For instance, in 2018 we bought sugar beet at Br70 per tonne. The state lent us a hand, compensated the cost of sugar beet to the agricultural producer. Now we buy at Br55 per tonne from the producer as part of government procurement contracts,” Anatoly Buben specified.

Apart from that, the head of state backed the proposal to allow Gorodeya Sugar Refinery, Zhabinka Sugar Plant, and Skidel Sugar Factory to keep some of the last year's profits, which are supposed to be transferred to the state budget. The money will be spent on paying off the loans of the sugar refineries.

A similar decision was made with regard to confectionery industry enterprises. “The dividends, which Spartak and Kommunarka are supposed to accrue and pay to natural persons, will be spent on modernization as well,” the Belgospishcheprom head said.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against Belarusian Internet resources continue unabated, BelTA learned from the website of the National Computer Emergency Response Team CERT.BY.

A wave of DDoS attacks against Belarusian websites was registered on 9 August. “Attacks continue throughout the day today. Websites of government agencies and organizations are mainly targeted,” CERT.BY said.

Various types of flood attacks designed to saturate bandwidth with data packets and deprive the victim of the ability to use Internet access have been registered since the attacks began. CERT.BY also mentioned attacks meant to deplete server resources (CPU, RAM, and so on).

The total strength of some attacks exceeded 200Gbps. All of them were repulsed by defensive solutions of Belarusian Internet service providers.

A particularly large number of attacks targeted the website of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus. They were carried out at 19:41 and 23:20 on 9 August.