The results of the foreign economic activity in 2005 lay a good foundation for the successful work in 2006 and within the next five-year term, foreign minister of Belarus Sergei Martynov stated today at a meeting of the Collegium of the foreign political department of this republic attended by prime minister Sergei Sidorskiy, heads of state bodies and companies. Effective foreign trade is a matter of survival for Belarus, this is why pragmatic and rational approaches are applied in this...

On his working visit to Moscow, Belarusian foreign minister Sergei Martynov held a face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. The parties discussed the Belarusian-Russian cooperation and interaction in the international arena, the Belarusian foreign ministry told BelTA. On February 27 at a joint collegium of the foreign ministries of Belarus and Russia chaired by Sergei Martynov and Sergei Lavrov, the sides have highlighted that bearing in mind diversity of progressive...

The Belarusian government is keeping a close eye on the developments around the Lithuania-spearheaded construction of a radioactive waste burial site in the vicinity of the Belarusian borders. All measures are being taken to prevent storage of radioactive waste close to the Belarusian border, premier Sergei Sidorskiy said while meeting with employers of JSC Svetlogorsk Pulp and Paper Factory. When asked how real the threat was of such a depository storing the radioactive waste of the...

Polina Smolova will represent Belarus at the International Song Contest Eurovision-2006 in Athens, the Belarusian jury unanimously decided. Polina Smolova will sing a song “Mama” composed by Sergei Sukhomlin and with the lyrics by poet Andrei Kostyugov. She is expected to come on stage in a costume tailored by young Belarusian couturier Ivan Aiplatov accompanied by a well-known Belarusian dancing company Pops Foundation. On February 28 the young Belarusian intends to get down to serious...

Russia strongly opposes the foreign pressure on Belarus, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov declared on February 27 when opening a sitting of the joint board of the foreign ministries of Belarus and Russia in Moscow. “We are against any pressure and attempts to overturn power. This is our position towards the Belarusian presidential election,” he said. Sergei Lavrov noted that “all the countries are different; they all have their own history and traditions”. The...

In response to the question of the analytical center EKOOM “Who of the candidates on the list are you going to vote for, if you take part in the presidential elections in Belarus on March 19, 2006?”, 77.2 per cent of the citizens have said they are going to vote for incumbent president of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. According to the sociological poll, 1.2 per cent - 8 per cent of the questioned are ready to cast their votes for other three candidates for the presidency...

The March 1 five-per cent rise in the prices for milk, purchased for the state needs, will not lead to the rise in prices for socially important foodstuffs, first deputy minister of agriculture and foodstuffs of this republic Nadezhda Kotkovets told reporters today. Prices for milk, sour cream and fat-free cottage cheese will be still fixed and companies do not have the right to increase them, even within the inflation framework, she explained. Boosting milk production by 15-16 per cent a...

Dmitriy Daschinskiy has won silver at the winter Olympic Games in Turin in freestyle. The Belarusian athlete has beaten 12 rivals and performed slightly worse than a Chinese freestyle skier. Belarusian Alexei Grishin has come fourth and Anton Kushnir has taken the eighth place. Head coach of the Belarusian freestyle team Nikolay Kozeko has reported to BelTA that he is satisfied with the performance of his sportsmen. “The freestylers have shown virtually everything they are capable of...

Around 1,800 representatives of Belarusian, international and foreign organisations will take part in an international conference "Chernobyl 20 Years Later. Strategy for Affected Areas Revival and Sustainable Development". The conference is scheduled to take place in Minsk and Gomel on April 19-21. It will be dedicated to the 20th anniversary since the Chernobyl power plant tragedy. The information was released by Valeriy Shevchuk, deputy chairperson of the Chernobyl aftermath committee under...

The central election commission of Belarus registered 4 presidential candidates on February 17 in the Palace of the Republic. During the ceremony of registration the number of voters who had signed to support each of the candidates was made public. A total of 1 million 903 thousand 69 signatures were collected in support of current president Alexander Lukashenko. The other candidates are Mr. Kozulin with 143,382 signatures in his favour, Mr. Milinkevich and Mr. Gaidukevich with 183,179 and...