MINSK, 18 August (BelTA) – Molodechno will play host to the 11th National Festival of the Belarusian Song and Poetry on 26-28 August, BelTA learned from deputy head of the Culture Department of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee Svetlana Baranok. This year’s festival will be dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Mulyavin. The festival will include the national contest of young pop singers. Each oblast and the city of Minsk will be represented by three singers. The...

GOMEL, 17 August (BelTA) – The Modern Latvian Art exhibition will open at the Gomel palace and park complex on 18 August, BelTA has learned. The exhibition will feature works of artist Ingrida Irbe and photographer Juris Schulz. Their works reflect the diversity and beauty of this small Baltic country. Clean nature, the sea, pines, beautiful architecture – from medieval castles and small streets of Riga’s Old Town to exquisite Jugendstil houses – and friendly and unobtrusive local...

DOHA, 16 August (BelTA) – The actions taken by the UK authorities against rioters and looters were adequate. Had the British authorities acted differently, the country would have been a chaos. Initially the British police was unprepared for the situation, but it followed later with a rather strict and pragmatic reaction, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told media on 16 August. According to Alexander Lukashenko, after the tragic events in Norway and other countries Europe has come...

MINSK, 11 August (BelTA) - As of the morning of August 11, Belarusian agricultural companies harvested 6.416 million tonnes of grain, BelTA learnt from the Agriculture and Food Ministry. In terms of general yield, the nationwide leader is Minsk Oblast, which harvested 1,487 million tonnes. Grodno Oblast threshed 1.1674 million tonnes, Vitebsk -940,200 tonnes, Brest - 896,300 tonnes, Mogilev – 814,600 tonnes, Gomel – 736,100 tonnes. The average yield countrywide is 34.9 centners per...

MINSK, 11 August (BelTA) – In August special operations forces of the Russian Interior Ministry are expected to take a training course in Belarus, BelTA learnt from the information and PR department of the Interior Ministry of Belarus. Belarus’ special police forces, in turn, will be trained at the Zubr special designation police detachment of the Interior Ministry of Russia. The program will include tactics, marksmanship and physical training. The program is organized as part of the...

MINSK, 10 August (BelTA) – Belarus liberalizes conditions for conducting foreign trade transactions. The Belarus President signed Decree No. 347 on 9 August to amend Decree No. 178 of 27 March 2008 “On the order of conduct and control of foreign trade transactions”, BelTA learnt from the presidential press service. The document is aimed at improving the order of conducting the foreign trade activity through expanding the opportunities for economic agents in export-import transactions,...

MOSCOW, 9 August (BelTA) – Two pilot models of Gomel harvesters Polesye were assembled in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, BelTA learned from the press service of the Krasnodar Krai Industry Department. The project is implemented within the framework of the agreement between Belarus’ government and the Krasnodar Krai authorities on the trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation for 2011-2013. The assembly plant was set up at the Podshipnik Company in Ust-Labinsk District....

GOMEL, 8 August (BelTA) – An installation to prepare slop oil and process oil slime will be commissioned by Mozyr Oil Refinery in August 2011, the company’s press center told BelTA. Specialists of the German company Flottweg are now busy with adjusting and startup procedures in shop No. 10. Two more German specialists and two Russian specialists will arrive soon in order to train the personnel. The company had to implement the project due to certain difficulties in preparing slop oil...

ZASLAVL, 8 August (BelTA) – Belarusian rowers must perform at their best since the government invests so heavily in training them, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko as he visited the national training center for rowing sports in the Belarusian town of Zaslavl on 8 August. London will host the 30th Summer Olympics in 2012. Belarusian canoeists and rowers are now busy preparing for them. In particular, the Sports and Tourism Ministry expects the Belarusian canoeing and rowing...

GOMEL, 4 August (BelTA) – A new oil well drilled by the Belarusian-Venezuelan company Petrolera BeloVenesolana in the west of Venezuela produces 3,300 barrels of oil a day (450 tonnes). The output is dozens of times higher than that of other oil wells operated by Belarusian specialists, representatives of the Belarusian company Belorusneft told BelTA. The source believes the high output indicates a new promising oil deposit although the area has been exploited for nearly 100 years....