MINSK, 13 August (BelTA) - Philip Gordon, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State, will visit Belarus 14 August, BelTA learnt from the Foreign Ministry of Belarus. Mr. Philip Gordon is scheduled to have meetings in the Presidential Administration and Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Belarus to discuss the whole range of issues of the Belarusian-U.S. relations. БЕЛТА

MINSK, 13 August (BelTA) – The political elite of Russia is absolutely unaware of what is going on in Belarus, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview to Formula of Power television programme, a joint project of the Itar-Tass news agency and the Rossiya television channel. “The political elite of Russia has no idea what is going on in Belarus. They read biased newspaper articles written by people who hate Belarus and then say that Belarus veered to the west. You...

MINSK, 12 August (BelTA) – Maria Yesman from Minsk will present Belarus at the Miss Intercontinental 2009, spokeswoman for the ONT TV Channel Alina Provotorova told BelTA. The 20-year-old girl is a student of the law department of Belarusian State University. In 2008 Belarusian Lyubov Yakovina was the second runner-up and the Miss Intercontinental Europe. The most beautiful women all over the world will gather in Belarus in September for the Miss Intercontinental 2009. The Miss...

NESVIZH REGION, 11 August (BelTA) – The exchange of farm machines between the regions should be well-justified during the harvesting campaign, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said when touring of the agricultural companies of the Minsk oblast. “An accurate and reasonable approach should be applied to the redeployment of farm machines as they are expensive,” the head of state said. Speaking about the harvesting campaign, the President said that the Vitebsk and Minsk oblasts...

MINSK, 10 August (BelTA) – Belarus expands opportunities for investment in loss-making state-owned companies, the State Property Committee told BelTA, commenting on Decree No 410 of 4 August, 2009, which makes corrections in Decree No 113 of 25 February 2008 “On the Procedure and Terms of Selling Companies as Property Complexes of Loss-Making State-Owned Organisations to Legal Entities”. The new document abolishes such a criterion as ‘steady financial insolvency’. It increases the...

MINSK, 10 August (BelTA) – Further development of the agricultural industry of Belarus will largely depend on farm enlargement, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said as he visited the Ostromechevo company in the Brest region on 8 August, the presidential press service told BelTA. On the second day of his working trip to the Belarusian regions, the President visited one of the largest organisations of the Brest region, the Ostromechevo agricultural company. The company ranks second...

MINSK, 7 August (BelTA) – Ordinance No 10 introduces a multifaceted approach to the work with investors in Belarus, head of the main investment department of the Economy Ministry of Belarus Sergei Trofimovich told reporters commenting on the document on 7 August. “Ordinance No 10 will expand treaty-making practices to attract foreign and Belarusian investors,” he said. He explained that until the Ordinance was adopted, investment contracts could be concluded only on behalf of the...

MINSK, 7 August (BelTA) – The introduction of a new institutional tool for carrying out investment activities, investment agents, will allow Belarus to establish more flexible approach to work with investors, Sergei Trofimovich, head of the investment department of the Belarusian Economy Ministry, told reporters on 7 August. According to him, the work of the investment agents is an international practice. The same mechanism will be introduced in Belarus. A natural person or a legal entity...

MINSK, 31 July (BelTA) – Belarusian agricultural companies have harvested the first million tonne of grain, BelTA learnt from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. As of today, the agricultural companies have collected 1.188,000 tonnes of grain including 286,000 tonnes of grain gathered on 30 July. The Brest oblast leads the harvesting campaign in the country with 424,000 tonnes of grain. It is followed by the Gomel oblast (282,000 tonnes), the Grodno oblast (234,000 tonnes), the Minsk...

MINSK, 27 July (BelTA) – The Belarusian construction sector should be fully compliant with the European standards by 1 January 2010, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said before the government’s report on the implementation of his instructions on 27 July, BelTA informs. “It will be a real breakthrough for the country if this target is implemented,” Alexander Lukashenko stressed. “We pin great hopes on our construction industry as it is a locomotive that would pull the...