Последние новости Belarus

Belarus is negotiating with Russia about the compensation for the oil tax maneuver. Both sides have reached understanding in the issue but Russians are saying that final decisions can be made only after the integration becomes deeper, the diplomat said.«I believe that these things should not be bound. The impending issues need to be solved. They should have been solved long ago – on January 31, 2019,” Syamashka announced. Belarus and Russia are supposed to sign a visa agreement by the end of the year, the diplomat added. Both states have finished domestic procedures needed to approve the documents and are waiting for a good political moment, he said.

The British magazine points out that Svetlana Alexievich who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2015 is the first non-fiction writer to do so. It also underlines the fact that soon after the winning her works have been freshly translated into English. “Alexievich’s interviews with Russian soldiers in Afghanistan, Chernobyl survivors, people who were children in the war with Germany and many others produce moving accounts of suffering in the Soviet world. Her technique of collating highly-edited transcripts with little or no context has been criticised as being more myth-making than accurate history. But there’s no denying the courage and artistry of a writer who counts Vladimir Putin among her opponents,” a brief description of the Belarusian writer reads. Recall that Alexievich was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature hugely admired Second-Hand Time that was described as “a monument to suffering and courage in our time”. It has been half a century since a writer working primarily in non-fiction won the Nobel – Svetlana Alexievich is the first journalist and writer from Belarus to win the award.

Currently, the statements of the Belarusian side on diversification of oil supplies is an attempt to blackmail Russia. In reality, the Lukashenka team do not take any measures aimed to diversify oil supplies. It is highly unlikely that in response to increasing US military contingent in Poland Lukashenka would agree to deploy Russian military contingent or Russian military bases. Lukashenka will bid for the presidency at the presidential elections that are to take place in 2020, after the parliamentary elections. In the next presidential term, he will be thinking of a successor. Lukashenka speaks of a new Constitution, meaning the forthcoming hand over of the authority to a successor. Despite the growing disagreements in the issues of the integration within the union state, the Kremlin and Lukashenka will not announce the end to the project. On December 13, 2018, the Vice Premier of Russia Dmitriy Medvedev claimed: “Russia is ready to keep moving on the way of building up the union state, including the creation of the single currency emission centre, the unified customs, courts, auditing chamber.” Since then, practically every month the sides have been exchanging statements of strongly different variants of developments in the relations within the union state. The Russian side suggests discussing its initiatives on deepening integration. On December 14, Lukashenka claimed: “If someone wants to pop us into Russia – that will never happen… Under the pretext of the deep integration, Moscow wants to incorporate Belarus into Russia. I understand these hints: get the oil, but go ahead, ruin the state and enter Russia.” Lukashenka claimed that it is through Russia’s fault the union state has not yet been created. The union implies equal rights, equal conditions for economic subjects. And these conditions are getting more and more uneven. According to Lukashenka, currently, the Belarusian enterprises pay 200 USD for a thousand cubic metres of gas, whereas Russian enterprises pay 60 USD. Commenting on the statements from Medvedev regarding the unified emission centre and unified customs, Lukashenka claimed that Russia offered “to create the union from the roof, and not from the basement”. Such basement, in his opinion, is the creation of equal conditions for economy subjects, i.e. supplies of oil and gas at home Russian prices and absence of barriers for Belarusian exports to Russia. The problem is not about the logic or sequence of integration (basement-roof),...

«We planned to get another loan from Russia, but we postponed the issue, since we have found an alternative with our Chinese partners,» Byalkavets said on July 9. Byalkavets's statement came weeks after Finance Minister Maksim Yermalovich said that his country had been seeking to borrow money from a country other than Russia due to mounting differences in bilateral relations.

In Belarus, criminals are executed for the most heinous and brutal crimes. Since 2007, there were less than five death sentences per year. However, the very existence of capital punishment distinguishes Belarus not only from the rest of Europe but also from other post-USSR countries. The European Union and the Council of Europe don’t neglect a single death sentence in Belarus, usually reacting with the statements of condemnation. For many European capitals, the death penalty is a dark stain on Belarus’s reputation that seriously hinders the development of mutual relations. The death penalty doesn’t prevent the EU from building relations with other countries, such as China, Japan, or the bastion of democracy – the United States. When the argument is brought up in a conversation with Western diplomats, one always hears the same mantra: “this is Europe, and there is no place for the death penalty.” The EU insists on the moratorium not only because of some European values but also because this concession is politically convenient, it is very easy to record. It’s not clear how to measure freedom of speech or assembly, while the death penalty – either you have one or you don’t. For the EU, this is an understandable criterion of progress. Most often, the government refers to public opinion, particularly to the referendum of 1996, where the majority voters voted in favor of retaining the death penalty. Truth be told, independent polls also show that Belarusians don’t support the abolition of capital punishment. But since when this was a problem for the authorities? What’s stopping the government then? There can be two explanations: either Lukashenko is really a staunch supporter of capital punishment or he doesn’t want to sell this concession cheaply. Some officials familiar with the subject admit that attempts to lobby for a moratorium on the death penalty within the system always rested on the unequivocal refusal of the president. The second reason – the lack of a counteroffer from the EU – looks more realistic. For moral reasons, the EU cannot simply offer Minsk a bag of money for stopping the executions. In general, in Brussels, there are neither the means to work with Belarus nor the enthusiasm to buy any concessions. On the upside, since the moratorium on the death penalty is a one-time favor, Minsk doesn’t want to give a trump card for nothing. Therefore, there are only two ways out. Either the EU should radically reconsider its relations with Belarus a...

213,000 tickets sold! Ticket sales reached 213,000, the official said in a recent interview. Of them, 12,700 were purchased by foreigners, according to the official. “Other 7,000 were invited by various public organizations to participate in the Games. This makes 20,000 visitors. Plus, 15,000 ticket packages were sold by travel companies.” The total official number of guests from other countries is 35,000, Kovalchuk said. “Not to mention the guests who came on their own,” the official added. 2nd European Games took place in Minsk on 21-30 June 2019. The Games were named one of the biggest sports events of the summer with 50 participating countries, 15 sports, and over 4,000 athletes. The leader of the medal count was the Russian team with 109 medals. 221 Belarusian athletes won 69 medals, including 24 gold ones.

Support for agriculture is a key task. “We are determined to keep agriculture support at the same level, maybe even expand it a bit,” Aleksandr Turchin said. He added there is still space for concessions in the talks, whereas Belarus is aware of the lines it can’t cross. Belarus is ready for a compromise, but without compromising its own interests, First Vice Prime Minister stressed. Turchin said that Russian and the USA have the most rigid stance in the talks, but it helps Belarus have a new angle on many issues. “We’ve achieved significant progress in a short time,” the official said. According to him, Belarus has a good chance to finish all the formalities by the Twelfth Ministerial Conference in June 2020 in Kazakhstan. The final draft of the agreement should be ready by 2019 year-end or early 2020.

Five times from the current figure. Speaking in a meeting with the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, Vladimir Makei said that the country’s tourism industry now accounted for 2.2% of the GDP. The figure could rise considerably with the assistance of the UN’s agency, among others. “In order to achieve this goal, Belarus is set to amend domestic laws, improve tourist services at national and local levels, promote Belarus abroad, and look at the world’s best practices and UNWTO recommendations,” the foreign minister added. The UNWTO Secretary-General praised Belarus for introducing short-term visa-free travel for international visitors interested in traveling to the country. The two parties also discussed areas of cooperation for the future, including the possibility of international events with UNWTO assistance to boost tourist industry in the country.

For the citizens of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the fee will not change. They will continue to pay 35 euros for the visa — this amount is specified in the agreements of these countries with the EU to simplify the issuance of visas. The corresponding regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June has been published by the Official Journal of the European Union today.

The remains of two dozen participants of the January Uprising (1863-1864) were found in Vilnius earlier, Euroradio reported. The remains of Kastus Kalinouski, national hero of Belarus, could also be among them. Those people were executed by the Russian authorities. Lithuanian experts are 95% sure that the remains of Kaslus Kalinouski have been found. Vilnius has asked Minsk to exhume Kastus’ brother Viktar in order to prove it. A solemn reburial of the insurgents will be organized in Vilnius in autumn. Most of the executed people originated from Belarus.

«My concern about such secrecy in the work on integration of the two states is caused by the threat of loss of real independence and sovereignty of Belarus… as well as an unexpected forced integration process,» Kanapatskaya wrote on her Facebook page. She stressed that the Belarusian society is also concerned about this problem. «The lack of information on this subject, its secrecy, only fuels concern and social tension within Belarus,» said the deputy. Despite the fact that the head of state and officials reassure people, saying that there is no threat to independence, Belarusians see ultimatums, pressure and blackmail from the Russian leadership. Deputy Hanna Kanapatskaya demands that «full information about the ongoing processes of integration of Russia and Belarus» as well as about the work of the Belarusian working group and the joint group with the Russians on integration be provided to her. Kanapatskaya also demands that the media produce regular reports on the «integration» negotiations. «The issue of independence and sovereignty of Belarus is one of the few and the most important ones that unites the authorities, the opposition and the Belarusian people,» writes MP Kanapatskaya. «Thus, only openness in this matter will allow to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the country, as well as to consolidate the Belarusian society,» says the MP. On July 9, Alyaksandr Lukashenka spoke about the work of the joint group on integration. He saw in the actions of Russians «one promises» and «slowing down of the processes».

Alyaksandr Lukashenka commented on the work of the joint Belarus-Russia group on integration during his meeting with the Union State Secretary Ryhor Rapot. The group was supposed to analyze all the problems in the relations of the two states. “There are only promises,” Lukashenka’s press service quotes him. “When the work group encountered an issue, the Russian government including PM Medvedev started promising to give all the corresponding orders to comprehensively solve the problems. This is their negotiation tactics: to keep promising and forgetting. It means that these processes are being deliberately hindered.” As a result, he has nothing to discuss with Vladimir Putin, the President said. Meanwhile, they have two meetings scheduled for the near future. Alyaksandr Lukashenka has asked Ryhor Rapota “to strictly put the question to Russia since we need to get certain results in just a few days.”

Fifteen players were fined a total of $106,400 (£84,950) throughout the first six days of this year’s competition, already overtaking last year’s total of $68,000 (£54,300) enforced over the full two weeks. The heaviest fine this year was given to Bernard Tomic, who was penalised a record $58,500 (£45,000) for lack of effort in his first round clash against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Tuesday. Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka was fined $10,000 (£7,990) for “unsportsmanlike conduct,” whilst $5,500 (£4,400) was levied against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev for the same offence after he attacked the grass court with his racquet and refused to shake the umpire’s hand at the end of the game. There are a total of 24 offences that Wimbledon bosses can hold players to account for — including punctuality, dress code, swearing and abuse of racquets and balls. In 2016, $93,500 (£70,700) worth of fines were handed out during the whole tournament, up from $62,500 (£40,000) in 2015. Saturday’s play saw Italy’s Fabio Fognini say he wished “a bomb would explode” on the AELTC after he was scheduled to play on a smaller court. Wimbledon CEO Richard Lewis said that there is likely to be a small fine for the “unfortunate” comment, adding: «It was one of those heat of the moment comments which is a very unfortunate and he was good enough to apologise straight away.” The Wimbledon boss also suggested that the “bay boy of tennis” Nick Kyrgios could be fined for how he spoke to the umpire during his match on Thursday. »Whether there's anything to do with some of the conversational discussion Nick had with the umpire, I think that maybe is worthy of scrutiny," he said.

According to the expert, Belarus currently has the same climatic conditions as Lithuania. The reserve in the Vilejka reservoir is necessary to maintain the water balance in the Belarusian territory, including the provision of drinking water to almost a third of the residents of Minsk, said Stankevich in an interview with Interfax.by He also noted that the reason for the drying up of Viliya (Neris) is the low rainfall. If more rain falls, the situation will improve. There is no guarantee that in 2-3 weeks there will be significant precipitation to increase the supply of water from the Vileika reservoir without loss to the Belarusian side. Earlier, the Minister of Environment Protection of Lithuania Kęstutis Mažeika turned to the Belarusian Environmental Protection Agency for assistance in restoring the water level in Neris. This was reported by the Lithuanian media. However, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Belarus says that there was no official request from Vilnius.

According to the official report, Lukashenka has already read the statement of Zelensky. Recently, the Ukrainian leader offered to organize an international meeting with the participation of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, USA, Great Britain, Germany and France in Belarus. The press service notes that «there is nothing new in the policy of the president of Belarus and in his attitude to the conflict in Ukraine,» so Lukashenka supports the idea of such a summit. «As for the voiced proposals on the participants of the meeting, everyone must remember that the president of our country has repeatedly said that „this problem should be solved by us — the three Slavic peoples. Not Europeans, not Americans, but us, so that it would not be frozen as other hotspots in the post-Soviet space,“ the statement said. »But if the problem cannot be solved in such a format, and one of the parties to the conflict — in this case Ukraine — insists and offers the participation of other players, we also support this format… Moreover, Alyaksandr Lukashenka has long been talking about the U.S. involvement in the resolution of this conflict — it will be difficult to solve this problem without the Americans," the statement said.

«We are in the talks at the moment on deepening the integration processes. After we have finished dialogue on this topic, it will become clear when and how we will be unifying our gas market, making it a single market or a common market of natural gas,» Kozak is quoted as saying by the Russian news agency TASS. The Russian official hopes the solution will be found in the near future. On 28 June, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said that the talks with Belarus on the extension of the gas supplies contract after 2019 were yet to begin. However, the company has reportedly received 'first proposals' from Belarus and is currently considering them. The protocol prices of natural gas that Russia and Belarus agreed upon in 2017 expires this year. Minsk insists that the price of natural gas in Russia's Smolensk region would be fair for Belarusian consumers. As of today, Belarus buys natural gas from Russia at $127 per 1000 cubic meters. In Russia's Smolensk Region, which borders Belarus, natural gas costs $70.

Two Belarusians have been detained in Tunisia. They are being suspected of espionage, the news agency Tunis Afrique Presse reports. The Belarusians allegedly had on them passports of several countries — Poland, Ukraine and Maldives. There was also mentioned «modern electronic equipment,» which the detainees had. By the way, they immediately aroused suspicion: in the city of Sfax, on the Mediterranean coast, they stayed in a hotel and did not allow the staff to enter the room. They were observed for two weeks and then searched. According to Radio Svaboda, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus «is looking into the situation» with the Belarusians in Tunisia.

«By the end of 2018 [Belarus and Russia] had to work out a common formula in order to reach comparable gas prices for Belarus and for consumers of Smolensk region of Russia in the future. And on July 1 this year, we we supposed to sign the corresponding intergovernmental agreement. It would have been a decisive and beneficial step on the way to the convergence of economic conditions for the enterprises of Belarus and Russia. It would allow to start solving other more complicated tasks of the Belarusian-Russian and Eurasian economic integration. We sent our proposals to the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, Gazprom and the Russian government. We proposed different methods but have not yet received any official conclusions. A similar situation is happening with the tax maneuver. We believe that this is a violation of the Eurasian Union Treaty,» the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus quotes the diplomat. According to the diplomat, it makes no sense to solve the problems of a single customs and tax legislation, single currency and emission center until the issues of common prices for energy supplies are resolved within the Union State of Belarus and Russia. «MAZ has to pay $278 per thousand cubic meters of gas, while KAMAZ — $65. MAZ pays 11 cents for electricity, while KAMAZ — no more than 4 cents. „Until we equalize the economic conditions, it's premature to say that we'll immediately solve the problem of a single customs and tax legislation, single currency, single emission center,“ said Ambassador of Belarus to Russia.

The figurine, unearthed by archaeologists in the ruins of an ancient city on the outskirts of Minsk, the Belarus capital, is a chess piece, probably a knight. It’s proof, in the poet’s view, that his country has existed for a millennium as a culture and polity separate from Russia. “This means that 1,000 years ago people on this spot were sitting playing chess,” said Gleb Labadzenka, the poet. “Our neighbors’ capitals — Moscow, Warsaw, Vilnius — did not even exist at this time, but here we were playing chess.” In Belarus, Ukraine and other parts of the defunct Soviet Union, an endless tug-of-war between Moscow and its former dominions has often been defined by quarrels over oil and gas pipelines, military alignments, and geopolitics. At bedrock, however, are sharp differences over history, culture and language. And it is on this front, Mr. Labadzenka and like-minded Belarusians believe, that their country can best resist pressure from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to accelerate moves toward a so-called “union state.”

The photo of the document appeared in the TV-channel “Economy of Belarus”. [media=https://t.me/belarus_economy/458] “In connection with the preparation of the materials for the Presidium of the FTU (State Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus) on the work of the trade union and its organizational structures in social networks,” we urge you to ensure subscription by 16.07,” reads the letter. Also, Minsk Regional Trade Union of Local Industry and Public Utilities calls on the heads of cells to ensure the attendance of their pages and mandatory likes and reposts. Particular attention is being paid to the news about changes in the Labor Code.

On July 14, the British band Bring Me The Horizon will present their big program. It is not the first time that rockers will come to Belarus. In the past, every performance was sold out. There is almost no doubt that this time it will be the same, so it's better to buy tickets in advance. Moreover, the Belarusians will hear songs from the new album where the band changed its sound and moved away from the usual «metal» feel. The tickets are rather affordable with prices ranging from 67 BYN for the dance area (without commission). You can buy tickets at the ticket offices in the city, as well as here. The next day, «Chyzhouka Arena» will again host the main rock stage in Belarus, as the Thirty Seconds To Mars will come to Minsk once again. They have already visited Minsk three times — in 2011, 2014, and 2015. And in 2017, the performance was cancelled due to the economic situation in the country. Still, each previous gig was packed. Most likely, this time it will be the same. Americans are the idols of several generations at once and still remain in the tops of international music charts and awards. In addition, their front-man Jared Leto continues his acting career and has every chance to win more than one Oscar. So it will be possible to see and hear the person who is sometimes compared to a biblical hero for his appearance and voice in real life very soon. The Americans have chosen Mahiliou rockers Nizkiz which were competing with well-known European bands as their supporting band. And it is not surprising, because now the band is one of the most popular ones in the country. Tickets are still on sale with prices starting at 80 rubles. There are few seats left, but relatively good tickets can still be found on the organizers' website.

Народный художник Белоруссии Виктор Громыко скончался на 97-м году жизни. Деятель изобразительного искусства в основном известен своими полотнами, посвященными военному времени.

Более 40 дополнительных рейсов электропоездов запустят на Белорусском и Киевском направлениях МЖД для перевозки участников форума "Армия-2019", сообщает пресс-служба магистрали.

Движение пригородных поездов на Белорусском и Савеловском направлениях МЖД стабилизировалось. С увеличенными интервалами следуют только шесть электричек, сообщили в пресс-службе дороги.