Union State allocates RUR490mln in 2002-2005 to mitigate Chernobyl impact

The Union State allocated RUR 490 million in 2002-2005 under a program to mitigate the impact of the Chernobyl catastrophe, Belarusian premier Sergei Sidorskiy said in the Chamber of Representatives today. The premier featured the construction of an up-to-date medicine factory in Skidel (RUR 161 million) and that of the republican research center of the radiation medicine and human ecology in Gomel (RUR 142 million) among the most significant Union State-sponsored projects. Referring to international cooperation, Sergei Sidorskiy has stressed that 69 countries contributed to drawing up the Chernobyl resolution at a UN plenary session. According to him, this is the biggest number of co-authors of a Chernobyl document over the recent 13 years. The Chernobyl issue was included in the program of development of relations between Belarus and the organizations of the UN family. Belarus has cultivated a well-balanced mechanism of interaction with NGOs from Italy, Germany, Japan, Ireland, Switzerland and other states. That cooperation resulted in USD 400 million having flown in Belarus in 2001-2005. Belarus and China continue implementing an agreement on granting USD 6 million-worth assistance to the Chernobyl-affected regions. Every year foreign NGOs send grants to Belarus in the form of goods. Around 50 thousand children go on recuperation courses to 26 countries annually.