VITEBSK, 15 July (BelTA) – The 19th international art festival Slavonic Bazaar in Vitebsk will come to an end toning on 15 July, BelTA has learnt. Taking part in the closing concert will be popular pop-singers from Belarus, Russia, Georgia, Latvia and Latin America: Sergei Zakharov, Igor Korneliuk, Dima Bilan, Valeria, Piotr Dranga, Vladimir Presnyakov, Natalia Podolskaya, Mikhail Turetsky project 10 Soprano, Nino Katamadze, Raimond Pauls, J-Mors, Ruslan Alekhno and winners of the Vitebsk...

MINSK, 14 July (BelTA) – Belarusian MPs are set to ratify a Belarus-Finland intergovernmental agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs procedures. The decision to uphold the bill on ratification at the forthcoming session was adopted at a session of the commission for international affairs and links with the CIS on 14 July, BelTA has learnt. Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Committee Vasily Dementei said that the agreement was necessitated by the increase in the mutual...

MINSK, 13 July (BelTA) – A revised version of the action plan to advance Belarus to the top 30 countries with the best business climate is being prepared in Belarus, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov said at a session of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers on 13 July, BelTA has learnt. “The working group is now busy drafting a new version of the plan of action to advance Belarus to the top 30 countries in the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking,” the Vice Premier...

MINSK, 9 July (BelTA) – Belarus will go its own way and pursue a sovereign policy, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule in Minsk on 9 July. Alexander Lukashenko thanked Stefan Fule for visiting Belarus. “Considering your conviction and bias towards Belarus I think it is good that you will see the country with your eyes. It is important that you see by yourself the processes that are going...

MINSK, 8 July (BelTA) – Justice Minister of Belarus Viktor Golovanov and his Bulgarian counterpart Margarita Popova signed agreements on legal assistance in criminal cases and extradition on 8 July, BelTA has learnt. According to Viktor Golovanov, these documents are another step to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, promote links between the two ministries and bring the tow parties closer to signing a ministerial agreement. It will help exchange the jurisdiction...

MINSK, 7 July (BelTA) – President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has heard out reports by the governors of the Brest and Gomel oblasts on the current social and economic situation in the regions and the start of the harvesting campaign on 7 July, BelTA learnt from the presidential press service. The governors pointed to good preconditions for fodder conservation and a good yield of cereal crops. The head of state ordered to conduct the harvesting campaign as fast as possible. It is...

MINSK, 6 July (BelTA) – The terms of state support to agricultural producers will be discussed during separate negotiations between Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan as they develop the single economic space (SES), Vice-Premier of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov told reporters. “The sides need to agree on the volume of agricultural subsidies,” Andrei Kobyakov said. There exist a certain methodology in this area, and green, yellow and red boxes as the WTO classified them, according to Andrei...

GOMEL, 29 June (BelTA) – Belorusneft plans to complete the construction of its first triple-hole well by August this year, BelTA learnt from the company’s press service. The construction of the well was launched in February 2010. Its target depth is 2,975 meters. Such wells are usually used in the development of hard-to-recover reserves. A triple-hole well extends the filtration area and increases raw hydrocarbon discharge. Founded in 1966, the manufacturing corporation Belorusneft is...

BREST, 18 June (BelTA) – Wooden architectural objects in the Belarusian Polesie boast a high cultural and historical potential, Chairman of the National Commission for UNESCO Affairs in Belarus Vladimir Schastny told BelTA. Vladimir Schastny took part in an international meeting of experts of Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and Poland in Brest. The meeting tabled the preservation of outstanding wooden architectural objects in the transboundary region of Polesie. Like no other buildings the...

SHKLOV REGION, 18 June (BelTA) – The average salary in Belarus should be $500 by the next All-Belarusian People’s Assembly, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told reporters on 18 June, BelTA has learnt. “By the time the assembly is held the average salary should reach $500. We will do our utmost to achieve that, of course, if we are not covered by some unhappy “wave” from the Atlantic or the Pacific,” the President said. The Belarusian leader added that all the accounts...