A museum of rare books, established at the Gomel oblast library, will be inaugurated on February 22 in Gomel. The exposition features most valuable and unique editions from the library of the family Paskevich, a collection of rare small books, BelTA was told in the direction of the library. The earliest edition is dated back to the 16th century. It is a palaeotype of Petrarch’s Canzoniere published in the old Italian language in 1547. Of great interest are also manuscripts of the 18th-19th...

Vocal and instrumental groups will gather in Gomel for an open festival “Student's Hit” scheduled for February 29-March 1. Best bands will win music gear. The festival aims at discovering and support new talented vocal and instrumental groups, expanding creative cooperation between these groups and popularizing the genre in general, BelTA was told in the youth policy department of the Gomel town council. Every vocal and instrumental group can partake in the festival. The age factor is...

In 2008, the production corporation Gomselmash would like to increase the number of its trading houses in the Russian Federation. Apart from the trading houses Gomselmash-Siberia and Gomselmash-South, the Belarusian company intends to open the same structures in the Povolzhskiy Federal Area and the Central Federal Area of the Russian Federation. At present, the marketing department of the company is studying the proposals of the Russian regions, BelTA learnt from Vladimir Frolov, the director...

The publishing company Sozh has started utilizing new equipment to print the papers in full colour, director of the company Tatyana Protskaya told BelTA. According to her, at the end of last year the company installed an offset news paper press. The purchase of the Br2mn equipment has been financed by the Information Ministry and oblast authorities. The upgrade project will help the company bring the quality of printed mater onto a new level. From now on the company will be publishing in...

The Gomel oblast has approved an employment programme 2008. According to the document, the oblast will create more than 21,000 new working places, or 2,000 up from last year, the Deputy Chairman of the Oblast Committee for Employment and Social Security, Alexander Semenov, told BelTA. The target will be achieved by means of extending existing manufactures and creating new companies, he said. The Gomelsteklo company in the town of Kostukovka will create 300 new jobs after launching a new...

In Q1 2008, the production corporation Gomselmash will supply 10 combine harvesters Polesie-600 to Iran. The relative contract with the Iranian side was signed in Gomel on February 6, BelTA learnt from Igor Korotkevich, the head of the sales department of the company. Combine harvester Polesie-600 have been already working on the Iranian fields since 2006. The first batch composed of four combine harvesters was tested in Iran and then, a long-term dealer contract was signed with one of...

In January 2008 Belarusian company Gomselmash exported $15.5 million worth of agricultural machines and spare parts to Russia and Ukraine, roughly six times the amount the company exported in January 2007. The company mainly exported grain harvesters of various modifications, director of the Gomselmash marketing centre Vladimir Frolov told BelTA. As a rule, the market of complicated agricultural machinery is calm at the beginning of a year. At this time government resources to be allocated...

Russia’s Institute of Social Memory has presented books written by Russian-Belarusian writer and public figure Vladimir Kigna-Dedlov to the Gomel oblast. The author lived and worked in the Rogachev region. The oblast received 70 books published by Nauka Publishing House of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the initiative of the Institute of Social Memory. The books will be sent to libraries and museums of the oblast. They will become a symbol of the creative activity of the writer...

The Gomel Engine-Repair Plant and the Chinese company Ningbo David Power have set up the joint engines production. The Belarusian company will assemble combustion engines with the capacity of 5-7 kWt. The first batch of the engines is planned to be produced in February this year, BelTA learnt from director of the Gomel plant Nikolai Ermakov. The new production facility will produce 1000 engines of three models a year. In 2008, the company is expected to produce more than 700 engines. During...

In 2007 Gomel oblast liquidated 19 channels, through which residents of the region were taken to the CIS and non-CIS countries for labour and sexual exploitation. The Belarusian citizens were mainly taken to Russia, Turkey, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates. As BelTA learnt from the press service of the interior department of the Gomel oblast executive committee, last year there were 73 slave trade victims registered in the oblast including 37 people, who were taken outside the Republic...