MINSK, 4 February (BelTA) – President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has made several personnel decisions on 4 February, BelTA learnt from the presidential press service. The President announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key administration posts: Dmitry Katerinich – Industry Minister; Leonid Krupets – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Federative Republic of Brazil; Andrei Yevdochenko – Ambassador Extraordinary...

GOMEL, 3 February (BelTA) – Belarus’ Open Deaf Athletics Indoor Cup will be held in the Athletics Palace in Gomel on 4-6 February, BelTA learned from the Physical Education, Sport and Tourism Department of the Gomel Oblast Executive Committee The sport event will welcome athletes from Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Poland. Winners in the individual and team events will be awarded with cups, medals and diplomas. According to the Physical Education, Sport and Tourism Department, the...

MINSK, 3 February (BelTA) – The post-Soviet countries should get ready to respond to future threats, Russian writer and scientist Sergei Kara-Murza said at a seminar at the Academy of Public Administration under the Aegis of the President of Belarus on 3 February, BelTA has learnt. “The threats emerging on the post-Soviet space today will hit us in the future. Therefore, we should acquire experience,” Sergei Kara-Murza said. The worst scenario for any state, as he sees it, is...

MINSK, 2 February (BelTA) - Belarus will be working to address macroeconomic imbalances, Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich said as he met with the head of the IMF mission in Belarus Chris Jarvis, BelTA has learnt. “We will address the macroeconomic imbalances including the current account deficit,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said. The Prime Minister said that the purpose of the meeting is to review the materials on economic development of Belarus prepared by the mission, and to...

MINSK, 1 February (BelTA) – The State Committee for Science and Technology initiates the establishment of an innovation and investment bank in Belarus, Chairman of the committee Igor Voitov said at the session of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of Belarus which discussed Belarus’ innovation development program for 2011-2015 on 1 February, BelTA has learnt. “The State Committee for Science and Technology initiates the establishment of a national technology development fund to...

MINSK, 1 February (BelTA) - Belarus will reach a surplus of the foreign trade in goods and services in 2015, Prime minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich said at a meeting of the Council of Ministers. The government is set to reduce the trade deficit in goods and services to a zero by 2014, and secure a surplus in 2015, the Prime Minister said. “Unfortunately, the positions we are starting from are not the best ones. In 2010 we had the biggest ever foreign trade deficit. We need to...

MINSK, 31 January (BelTA) – Mozyr Oil Refinery is ready to process Azeri Light crude oil produced by Azerbaijan, BelTA learnt from Deputy Director General of Mozyr Oil Refinery Vitaly Pavlov. “We have refined various types of oil: Russian, Belarusian, and Venezuelan ones. The refinery is prepared to process Azerbaijani oil,” the Deputy Director General said. Azeri Light will be refined the same way as the Venezuelan oil; it will be mixed with Russia’s Urals crude using the...

GOMEL, 28 January (BelTA) – The Belarusian-Venezuelan Petrolera BeloVenesolana joint venture is going to produce from 1.2 to 1.3 million tonnes of oil, First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko said as he took part in the meeting of the Gomel Oblast Executive Committee on 28 January, BelTA has learned. In 2010 the joint venture produced 730,000 tonnes of oil and 300 million cubic meters of gas. In 2011 gas recovery is projected to make up 700-850 million cubic meters....

MINSK, 27 January (BelTA) – Meeting people’s needs should be government’s primary focus, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said addressing the seventh special session of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly on 27 January, BelTA has learnt. “Creating a comfortable environment for people is the ultimate goal of the Belarusian state. This is why zero tolerance to red tape, formalism, bias and indifference to people’s needs will become a mandatory requirement and...

MINSK, 27 January (BelTA) – The construction industry needs to tighten industrial and economic discipline, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said when addressing the seventh session of the House of Representatives. Alexander Lukashenko said that construction of high-quality and affordable housing is one of the most important priorities of the social and economic development of Belarus. “With regard to housing construction, my requirements remain as it were: strict adherence to...