MINSK, 9 September (BelTA) – Belarus will fulfill all the agreements reached with Venezuela, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez 8 September. “Belarus will stay committed to the agreements reached before this visit and those that can be made during the visit,” Alexander Lukashenko said. The Belarusian leader thanked Hugo Chavez for the support and assistance Venezuela offered Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko praised the...

MINSK, 7 September (BelTA) – Belarus is ready to cooperate with Slovak businessmen in all the areas: from banking sector to industry to agriculture, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Slovakia Miroslav Lajcak on 7 September. “We are interested in the close bilateral cooperation with no strings attached. You should find your niche through the competition and Belarus can offer plenty of opportunities for cooperation,” the...

MINSK, 3 September (BelTA) – In January-July Belarus has preserved generally positive development trends. Over the seven months the GDP grew 100.4%, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky informed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on 3 September. At present securing the required output rate is the biggest problem of the Industry Ministry. While in January 2009 the output rate stood at 83.8% as against the same period of 2008, the figure shrank to 82.2% in Q1 2009 and 76.4% in...

TUROV, 2 September (BelTA) – Belarus will not take the credit commitments that it cannot meet, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told media during his working trip to the Gomel oblast on 2 September. “We will stay away from what our economy cannot handle,” stressed the President. The head of state remarked that today key issues will have to be addressed. Keeping the Belarusian ruble stable is one of them. Speaking about price growth, the President remarked there should not be...

TUROV, 2 September (BelTA) – The national budget will subsidize 50% of the melioration of Belarusian Polesie. The statement was made by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko as he visited the Zhitkovichi region during his working trip to the Gomel oblast. The melioration of farmland in the Gomel oblast is supposed to get Br100 billion, including Br50 billion the national budget will allocate. “You are responsible for the price of every meliorated hectare with your head,” the...

TUROV, 2 September (BelTA) – The programme to develop small and medium-sized towns in Belarus will not be revised or cut, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told reporters in Turov on 2 September. “This programme will no way be revised or curtailed,” the head of state underlined. He pointed out that it is impossible to build a prosperous state without developing the rural areas. The President believes that the programme to develop small and medium-sized towns is a continuation...

TUROV, 2 September (BelTA) – Belarus is interested in the projects that offer alternative ways of energy supply. Our country is considering Ukraine’s invitation to take part in the project to construct Odessa-Brody oil pipeline, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told reporters in Turov on 2 September. “I would like to point out that Odessa-Brody is not a new project for us. Diversification of energy supplies is a common and usual practice for any country,” the President...

TUROV, 2 September (BelTA) – President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko gave an instruction to carry out a scrupulous examination of the financial and economic activity of a cannery in Turov during his visit to this enterprise on 2 September. The President criticized the work of the Turov company. The head of state visited this enterprise in autumn 2004. The instructions given by the President during that visit were not fulfilled: the company did not reach the projected level of...

TUROV, 2 September (BelTA) – Belarus will continue determining its domestic and foreign policies independently, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told media in Turov on 2 September. The head of state stressed, so far Belarus has adhered to a multiple-vector policy and will stick to it in the future. Once again he reminded that Belarus is not choosing between Russia and the West, but is ready to build productive relations with everyone. БЕЛТА

MINSK, 2 September (BelTA) – Belarusian farming companies have begun the autumn grain sowing, BelTA learnt from Grigory Romanyuk, Head of the Crop Growing, Fodder Production and Seed Production Office of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry. In the morning of 2 September the area under winter grain crops totalled 118,700 hectares, 8.4% of the planned figure. The figure stood at 91,000 hectares (6.4% of the targeted area) on 2 September 2009. This year the area under winter grain...