Belarusian People’s Congress

MINSK, 22 June (BelTA) – Concrete plans to develop regions of the country were unveiled by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko during the fifth Belarusian People’s Congress on 22 June, BelTA has learned.

The establishment of R&D parks, including in oblast capitals, as sites for high-tech manufacturing based on cutting-edge technological paradigms, is one of the directions of regional development in Belarus.

“The creation of infrastructure along with the placement of new manufacturing enterprises will allow securing the development of territories in a complicated economic situation. It will allow bridging the gap in the quality of life of people, who live in urban and rural areas. A number of facilities have been earmarked for capital investments with that in mind,” noted Alexander Lukashenko.

Plans have been made to build a mining and processing factory in Brest Oblast on the basis of the Sitnitskoye deposit (the Granit enterprise). A furniture enterprise and a sawmill will be created as part of the Ivatsevichdrev company. These and a number of other facilities will allow bolstering the manufacturing potential of this promising region, which performance, unfortunately, lagged behind five other regions in the previous five-year term.

A lot of reconstruction and manufacturing enhancement work will be done in Vitebsk Oblast, which was ranked second among Belarus’ regions in the previous five-year term. Projects will be accomplished at major enterprises like Naftan, Orsha Linen Mill, footwear and apparel manufacturing companies. Plans have been made to build a factory to make metal sheets and tin plates in Miory District. The Vitebsk, Polotsk, and Beshenkovichi hydropower plants will be built.

According to the head of state, Gomel Oblast was ranked fourth in the previous five-year term. The development of the Petrikovskoye potash salt deposit will be continued in Gomel Oblast. The woodworking industry and the pulp and paper industry will be developed. New facilities will be commissioned by Belarusian Steel Works. Better manufacturing technologies at Mozyr Oil Refinery will allow raising the crude oil upgrading index up to 90% and beyond. Constant attention will be paid to dealing with consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe.

The largest chemical enterprises in Grodno Oblast (the third place in the previous five-year term) will be modernized by introducing resource and energy-saving technologies as well as environmentally friendly technologies for the sake of bolstering the stability of the economy. The top projects include the construction of a nitrogen complex and a shop to make nitric acid at Grodno Azot and the modernization of the paints manufacturer Lakokraska.

Alexander Lukashenko noted that Minsk Oblast demonstrated the best performance in the previous five-year term. Plans have been made to build a mining and processing factory using the Starobinskoye deposit in Lyuban District. A powder paint factory will be built in Vileika District. A new division to process secondary polymeric waste will be built as part of the Borisov plastic products factory. Plans have been made to expand car assembly, too. As part of the innovation-driven development of the region science-intensive enterprises will be set up in the sphere of biotechnologies, fine chemistry, new materials, mechanical engineering, electronics, and logistics at premises of the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone in Smolevichi District.

Prospects of Mogilev Oblast (the seventh place in the previous five-year term) include efforts to bolster chemical production, manufacturing of plastic products and new tire sizes. Close attention will be paid to implementing the program on the comprehensive social and economic development of Mogilev Oblast’s southeastern parts (Krichev District, Klimovichi District, Krasnopolye District, Kostyukovichi District, Slavgorod District, Cherikov District, and Khotimsk District). The relevant program has been approved already.

“The strategy to develop the hero city of Minsk (sadly, the fifth place in the previous five-year term) provides for the outstripping development of high-performance sectors of the economy, which enterprises are mostly concentrated in the capital city,” noted Alexander Lukashenko. Close attention will also be paid to introducing cutting-edge city-forming technologies such as smart city and a number of other ones.