A team of OSCE/ODIHR observers to monitor the parliamentary elections in Belarus led by Gert Arens, Head of OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission, paid a working visit to the Gomel oblast on September 2. During the visit to the region, the observers met with the leadership of the Gomel Oblast Executive Committee and the Gomel Oblast Council of Deputies. The head of the mission noted the informal atmosphere of such meetings and friendly attitude of the Belarusian authorities. “The goal...

Belarus ranks second in the CIS in terms of industrial growth in January-July 2008, BelTA learnt from the Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS. Belarus, whose industrial growth reached 13.1%, was second only to Azerbaijan which posted a 14.1% growth in the national industry. Ukraine ranks third (7.3%), followed by Kyrgyzstan (5.8%), Russia (5.4%), Moldova (3.6%), Kazakhstan (3.3%), Armenia (1.8%). A recession in the industrial output was registered in Tajikistan (3.3% down). In...

Russia has increased the number of Belarusian military granted Russian military education, BelTA learnt from representatives of the Defence Education and Troops Training Department of the Belarusian Defence Ministry. The step is attributed to the expanding cooperation and implementation of joint measures for ensuring the operation of the regional Belarusian-Russian taskforce, the need to train specialists in maintenance and application of new Russia-made armaments and materiel Belarus is...

A delegation of the Belarusian business circles is set to visit St Petersburg on September 8-11, BelTA learnt from the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The visit will focus on providing assistance to the Belarusian companies in boosting exports to the Leningrad oblast. The programme of the visit includes the presentation of the Belarusian companies in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Leningrad oblast, negotiations with the companies and firms of St Petersburg and the...

As of August 29, the Central Election Commission of Belarus has accredited 161 international observers, Head of the Central Election Commission Lydia Yermoshina told a press conference in Minsk. According to her, 63 observers will represent the CIS Executive Committee, 21 observers – the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, 57 observers will represent the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission. Moreover, representatives of the Central Election Commissions of the Russian Federation,...

On August 28 President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko sent a message to President of the Russian Federation Dmitri Medvedev, which, in particular, says that given the circumstances Russia had no other moral choice but to support the appeal of the peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to recognize their right for self-determination in accordance with fundamental international documents, BelTA was told in the press service of the Belarusian leader. The Belarusian head of state also suggested...

The grain harvest has been completed in Belarus, BelTA was told in the main plant growing department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Belarus has cropped 2.3 million hectares. Now agricultural companies are getting down to harvesting buckwheat and millet. The grain harvest in Belarus has made up 8,927.600 tonnes, up 1,580.800 tonnes from last year. This is a record-high harvest in the history of independent Belarus. The Minsk oblast is the leader of the grain harvest campaign...

The work of the election bodies for the elections of deputies to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus is open and transparent. No obstacles in the work of observers have been created on the part of the members of the commissions, says the interim report of the CIS observation mission. “The visits to the election commissions showed that the organisational readiness is high and that the commissions are supplied with necessary equipment and normative documents for...

Planned preparations for elections to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus are in progress in the Mogilev oblast, Sergei Lebedev, head of the CIS election monitoring mission, told reporters. On August 25 he visited the Mogilev oblast, met with Mogilev oblast governor Boris Batura, visited district and polling station election commissions. The head of the mission said, an objective evaluation of the election process, assistance to election commissions and local...

The harvest campaign in Belarus is drawing to a close. About 7% of the total cropping area is left to be harvested, BelTA learnt from the main plant growing department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Foodstuffs. The Brest and Gomel oblasts have already harvested all the grain crops, only 3% of the area under buckwheat and 2.5% of the area under millet are left to be cropped. The Grodno, Minsk and Mogilev oblasts have to harvest 4.6%, 7.5% and 6.1% of grain crops correspondingly. The...