Kopyl regional executive committee

The establishment of a business aviation center in the Minsk National Airport has been finished, the press service of the Belarusian Transport and Communications Ministry told BelTA.

The implementation of the investment project to set up a business aviation center in the Minsk National Airport has been finished. A modern multifunctional facility was built there. It includes a hangar complex with the total area of over 4,000m2 for storing aircraft and a passenger terminal.

The project was implemented by ZAO Investment Financing under the aegis of the Transport and Communications Ministry in 2016-2019. Construction itself took 16 months. It was finished in December 2019.

The business aviation center is expected to enhance the commercial appeal of the Minsk National Airport and bring some aircraft owners from airports of Russia, the Baltic and Scandinavian states to Belarus. In turn, it will have a positive effect on Belarus' investment appeal as a whole.

The key advantage of business aviation is the ability to carry out domestic and international flights via any routes and without a timetable.

Minsk Oblast seeks to cooperate with Switzerland in healthcare and education; a possibility to open a branch of a Swiss university in the region is under discussion.

Cooperation prospects between Minsk Oblast and Switzerland were discussed at the meeting of Minsk Oblast Governor Aleksandr Turchin with Co-chair of the Belarus-Switzerland parliamentary group of friendship Margret Kiener Nellen, BelTA learned from the press service of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee.

Aleksandr Turchin noted that Belarus-Switzerland relations have made great progress and the credit for that partly goes to Margret Kiener Nellen. According to the governor, Minsk Oblast and Switzerland have great cooperation prospects, in particular in healthcare and education.

“Our region has the country's biggest cancer treatment facilities, therefore we are interested in the exchange of knowledge and specialists in this field of medicine. In addition to that, Minsk Oblast is the country's only region with no regional university of its own. Maybe, one of Swiss universities would want to open a branch in Minsk Oblast,” Aleksandr Turchin said.

Margret Kiener Nellen noted that Belarus-Switzerland relations have improved significantly. “There are still many more steps to be taken. I have already explored a possibility of cooperation in healthcare. I believe that our undertakings will be successful. I am also familiar with education-related matters. It makes sense to consider establishing some industry-specific facility,” she added.

In 2019 the trade between Minsk Oblast and Switzerland amounted to $141.5 million, including $15.3 million of export and $126.2 million of import.

The new bleached sulfate pulp plant based on Svetlogorsk Pulp and Board Mill should strive for a new development stage. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement as he visited the enterprise on 14 February, BelTA has learned.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “We need deep conversion of the pulp. We need to use the pulp to make appropriate packaging materials and sacks.”

The head of state reminded about the standing instruction to reduce the use of environmentally unfriendly plastic as much as possible: “This is why we have to stop using plastic. Everything – pastry, buns, and the rest – should be wrapped in paper. We have a lot of it. But this pulp should be used to create proper packaging and other materials.”

The president mentioned he had decided in favor of buying the necessary equipment and building a manufacturing division next to the plant this year at the latest. “It won't be cheap. It may cost €80 million. But we will go for it. We will place machine and will process pulp here. In this manner we will process 300,000-350,000 tonnes out of the 400,000 tonnes of pulp you will make here and will ship to our enterprises. We will have 50,000 tonnes left for export,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko mentioned the production of viscose pulp as another business avenue that should also be promptly explored. “This enterprise can do it. You will need asp and alder, of which we have plenty these days. This kind of wood just rots without use. This is why we have to hurry up and process it here,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated.

The head of state remarked that viscose pulp will be in demand at a neighboring enterprise in Svetlogorsk. This raw material has to be imported for now.

“In other words, everything you make here today can be sold at a solid profit. It is normal. You will have to repay the loan you've taken and pay off the state budget,” the head of state noted.

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed the importance of deep conversion of raw materials and the manufacturing of ready-made products that sell well. “It is a totally new level for our country,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

In his words, he came to visit the enterprise in order to make sure how the instructions to build a new enterprise had been fulfilled.

Speaking about past problems of cooperation with the Chinese company CAMCE in the course of building the enterprise, Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke in positive terms about the fact that Belarusian specialists had managed to independently commission the enterprise in the end. “Well done. I am grateful! It is the second goal of my arrival – to thank you for making this enterprise yourselves and making good products now after getting rid of the careless contractor,” Aleksandr Lukashenko concluded.

The Raubichi Olympic Center is ready to host the IBU European Open Biathlon Championships instead of Estonian Otepaa, Director of the Raubichi Olympic Center Aleksandr Gagiev told BelTA.

“We are ready to host the IBU European Open Biathlon Championships but we have not yet given the official answer. The representatives of the International Biathlon Union, who inspected Raubichi the other day, were satisfied with what they saw and are ready to give us the right to hold this event,” Aleksandr Gagiev noted.

If Belarus agrees to host the event, the International Biathlon Union is ready to allocate funds to cover the expenses, Aleksandr Gagiev said. Furthermore the international federations are ready to postpone the IBU World Cup, which is to take place in Raubichi on 5-8 March.

“If we take the responsibility of hosting the European event, the IBU is ready to bring forward the IBU World Cup. It will start on 3 March rather than 5 March, as it was initially planned, and will end two days earlier. Regarding the financial expenses, the IBU is ready to allocate funds to cover our expenses. The most important thing which is required from us is to hold the snow. We have everything what is needed to hold the championships to a high standard,” Alexander Gagiev noted.

The IBU European Open Biathlon Championships 2020 should have started in Estonian Otepaa on 26 February. Due to the lack of snow in Estonia the International Biathlon Union is looking for other venues.

Belarus' export of tourism services in 2019 came at over $250 million, 114.% as against 2018, the Belarusian Sport and Tourism Ministry said at its final board meeting on 12 February, BelTA has learned.

The State Border Committee of Belarus reported that in 2019 Belarus saw more than 4.924 million foreign visitors.

Belarus has stepped up work to liberalize visa rules and promote inbound tourism. For example, since the visa-free travel program was launched (in line with the decree of 9 January 2017), more than 350,000 people from 70 countries have visited Belarus. In 2019 this number rose by 40.3% over 2018.

After the decree on visa-free travel of foreign citizens that united two separate visa-free areas into the Brest-Grodno visa-free area came into force, 31,000 tourists from 42 countries visited this region.

Moreover, Belarus took part in 15 international tourism expos, presented Belarus' travel opportunities abroad ten times, organized 14 tours for representatives of the travel industry of foreign countries, and held workshops and roundtables featuring international experts.

A group of experts to harmonize draft provisions on CIS base institutions to train scientific personnel in physical and technical sciences will convene in the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk on 12-13 February, BelTA learned from the press service of the committee.

It is expected that Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences will acquire the status of a base institution to train scientific personnel in physical sciences, and the status of a base institution to train scientific personnel in physical and technical sciences will be given to Umarov Physical and Technical Institute in Tajikistan.

As base institutions, these institutes will offer training, retraining, and advanced training courses for researchers and university teachers, facilitate exchange of information about experience, innovations, and methodological support in these areas. They will also provide scientific, methodological, organizational, and consultative assistance in studying and teaching physical and technical sciences, carry out joint scientific research, hold international conferences, workshops, symposiums, and exhibitions.

The institutes will also be responsible for reviewing draft legal acts of the CIS that concern activities of base organizations, drawing up relevant reports, offering recommendations on harmonization and unification of legal acts, and exchanging legal acts.

Minsk has made it into the top 3 CIS cities with the most interesting events and fireworks on the Fatherland Defenders Day (marked on 23 February) among Russian tourists, BelTA learned from the TurStat analytical agency.

“Russians prefer to spend the three-day break from 22 to 24 February traveling abroad,” the agency said.

In addition to Minsk, the top ten CIS cities with interesting tours on the Fatherland Defenders Day in 2020 also includes Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, Kerch, Tula, Volgograd, Murmansk and Smolensk.

The ranking takes into account the popularity and unique character of Fatherland Defenders Day events.

Over 900 athletes from 12 countries have confirmed their participation in the Minsk Triathlon 2020 which is due in the Belarusian capital on 21 June, one of the organizers of the competitions, Ironman medalist, Chairman of the Council of the Tristyle Triathlon Club Dmitry Tolkachev told the media on 7 February, BelTA has learned.

“The project is gaining popularity. Registration was opened on 12 October 2019. Applications have been so far received from more than 900 athletes from 12 countries,” Dmitry Tolkachev said.

In his words, ten free training sessions will be held starting February to help athletes prepare for the competition.

According to Head of the physical education department of the Sports and Tourism Ministry of Belarus Piotr Voron, the ministry's team will also take part in the Minsk Triathlon 2020. “Our major goal is to build positive attitudes to sport in as many people as possible,” he said.

The Minsk Triathlon 2020 will feature three events: 1/8 Ironman (475m swimming + 22.5km cycling + 5.25km running), 1/4 Ironman (950m swimming + 45km cycling + 10.5km running), 1/2 Ironman (1900m swimming + 90km cycling + 21km running). Children under 13 years of age will be able to take part in the TriKids competition. They will face 500m running race. The Minsk Lady Run will feature a 3000m race. Be Yourself is the slogan of the Minsk Triathlon 2020.

The Minsk Triathlon 2020 is the biggest triathlon event in Belarus, which meets the Ironman international standards. The number of participants will make up 2,000 Belarusian and foreign athletes.

Triathlon is a multisport race that includes swimming, cycling and running.

The competitions are organized by the Sports and Tourism Ministry, Minsk City Hall, the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee, Minsk Cycling Club, and Tristyle Triathlon Club.

On February 5, the pedagogical community of the country discussed development indicators in the field of education of the Republic of Belarus for 2019.

On February 6, representatives of the YLES of Minsk Oblast will take part in the regional event “EMERCOM. BRSM. SECURITY ”, dedicated to the Day of Youth Law Enforcement Squads.