VITEBSK, 22 May (BelTA) – Official delegations of 16 partner towns of Polotsk will take part in the celebration of the 1150th anniversary of the oldest town in Belarus, representatives of the Ideology Department of the Polotsk Town Executive Committee told BelTA. The number includes towns in Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, and Germany. The list of Polotsk’s partner towns will grow larger during the celebration. An agreement on cooperation in economy and culture is...

VITEBSK, 17 May (BelTA) – Belarusian and Latvian travel agencies should consider the possibility of working together on the tourism market, BelTA learned from Grigory Pomerantsev, Chairman of the Board of the Riga Tourism Development Bureau. A fact-finding tour around Vitebsk Oblast has been arranged for Latvian travel agencies. The group includes representatives of Latvia’s top ten travel agencies that organize tourism import and representatives of two transport operators. Expressing...

VITEBSK, 15 May (BelTA) - More than 4,400 citizens of Latvia, residents of frontier regions, have been granted small-scale border traffic permits, the deputy chairman of the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee Oleg Matskevich told a news briefing. In accordance with the agreement between the Governments of Belarus and Latvia on small-scale border traffic as of 23 August 2010, on 1 February this year the consular authorities began accepting documents for small-scale border traffic permits....

VITEBSK, 11 May (BelTA) – The Belarusian-Latvian tourism project Bella Dvina gets its continuation and now will include Lithuania, BelTA learnt from Igor Zagrekov, a tourism expert on the Bella Dvina-2 project. Belarus, Latvia and Lithuania have launched a tourism project, Bella Dvina-2: Enhancing Tourism Potential in Latgale-Utena-Vitebsk Area, to promote tourism in the abovementioned regions. Bella Dvina 2 is a continuation of the EU project Bella-Dvina – Crossing the Border,...

VITEBSK, 10 May (BelTA) – Decree No. 6 “On stimulating entrepreneurship in the medium-sized and small towns and rural communities” will boost investment activity in rural areas and enhance the economic potential of the regions, Chairman of the Braslav District Executive Committee Sergei Shmatov told BelTA. The decree abolishes customs duties and VAT for goods that are imported to Belarus as equity contributions to companies operating in small towns and the countryside. The move is...

VITEBSK, 28 April (BelTA) – Vitebsk Oblast showed a budget surplus of Br67 billion in Q1 2012, head of the financial department of the Vitebsk oblast executive committee Boris Kichanovsky said at the 20th session of the Vitebsk Oblast Council of Deputies of the 26th convocation. In January-March 2012 the oblast demonstrated positive dynamics in almost all social and economic development parameters. Vibrant economic activity boosted revenue to both the regional and oblast budgets. In the...