MINSK (BelTA) – Work to extend the visa-free travel stay time for tourists, who enter the country via the Minsk National Airport, will continue, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Sports and Tourism Minister Mikhail Portnoi on 26 December.   For now tourists from 80 countries can stay in Belarus for five days without visas, provided they enter via the Minsk National Airport. According to Mikhail Portnoi, ways to improve the existing procedures and terms to bring more tourists...

GOMEL(BelTA) – The turnout in the coming elections to the local councils of deputies will largely depend on the media activity, Chairperson of the Belarusian Central Election Commission (CEC) Lidia Yermoshina told the media ahead of the seminar with heads and organizers of the local election campaign in Gomel, BelTA has learned. According to Lidia Yermoshina, the role of the media is very important in elections of all levels. “The turnout depends on the media activity. Therefore, I...

MINSK(BelTA) – The Belarusian Peace Fund will establish an annual award Peacemaker of the Year, Chairman of the Belarusian Peace Fund Maksim Misko noted at the fund's sixth national conference on 12 December, BelTA informs. “The annual national award Peacemaker of the Year will be bestowed as from 2018 in different nominations. The awards ceremonies will take place during the final sessions of the Belarusian Peace Fund. We plan to hold a contest for young people together with...

MINSK(BelTA) – The GDP growth is projected at least at 2% in 2017 and 3.5% in 2018, Belarusian Economy Minister Vladimir Zinovsky told the media, BelTA informs.   “Belarus will meet the 2017 economic targets including the GDP growth target,” he said. The industrial and agricultural output will grow by the 2017 year-end. There has also been an uptrend in retail and wholesale trade. The performance of the construction industry will be slightly worse than expected.   As...

MINSK (BelTA) – There are plans to open a Turkish culture center in Minsk in March 2018, BelTA learned from Belarusian Culture Minister Yuri Bondar.   In his words, the Turkish culture center will allow Belarusians to better get familiar with the culture and traditions of Turkey. The project was discussed as the Belarusian culture minister met with a Turkish delegation on 28 November. The delegation had arrived in Minsk to participate in Turkish Culture Days in Belarus. The...

(BelTA) – A presentation of the new compact tractor Belarus-622.5 took place during the world's largest agricultural machines expo Agritechnica 2017, which took place in Hannover, Germany on 12-18 November, the press service of the Belarusian Industry Ministry told BelTA.   The new tractor is based on the Belarus-622 model made by Bobruisk Plant of Tractor Parts and Units (BZTDiA), a division of the Belarusian industrial group MTZ. The Bobruisk-based enterprise has been making...

MINSK(BelTA) – Belarus has confirmed its status as the regional leader in the development of information and communication technologies. The country has managed to keep its current position in the 2017 Global ICT Development Index of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), BelTA has learned.   The ITU has just released the annual Measuring Information Society report, which evaluates the development of information and communication technologies in the ITU member states....

MINSK, 26 October (BelTA) – A delegation of Latvian business women will pay a visit to Belarus, BelTA learned from the Belarusian Union of Women. The delegation will be led by Deputy Chairperson of the Latvian Confederation of Employers, Chairperson of the Board of the Association of Latvian Private Investors, Head of the Latvian nongovernment organization Lidere Aiva Viksna. The visit will be running from 26 to 29 October. The Latvian guests are expected to meet with...

MINSK(BelTA) – Belarus will start creating a pilot area for testing 5G cellular communication services within three years. The information was released by Belarusian First Deputy Communications and Informatization Minister Dmitry Shedko during the plenary session of the 14th international forum on information technologies in banking BankIT'2017 on 18 October, BelTA has learned. “We strongly hope we will get down to deploying a fifth-generation cellular communication test area in...

MINSK (BelTA) – A new potash mine in Belarus will be built by 2021, BelTA learned from the Belarusian PR agency AGT. Boreholes will be drilled and freezing operations will start at premises of the future Nezhinsky mining and processing factory in October. The potash mine is supposed to be ready by 2021. Mine shafts will be drilled using shaft boring roadheaders. Construction workers are about to finish drilling boreholes about 160m below the surface in order to begin freezing the...