Belarus will not switch to winter time following Russia

Belarus will not switch to winter time following Russia. This was reported to a correspondent by the press service of the Belarusian government.

Belarus will not switch to winter time following Russia. This was reported to a correspondent of BELTA by the press service of the Belarusian government.

According to the press secretary, arguments "for" and "against" the clock change were submitted to the government for consideration by a special commission. "These arguments have been reviewed, and the decision has been made not to switch to winter time," the press service noted.

Earlier, the Chairman of the State Committee for Standardization, Viktor Nazarenko, stated that there were insufficient grounds for the country to switch to winter time.

In Belarus, the interdepartmental commission on time, frequency, and parameters of Earth's rotation, which includes representatives from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Energy, the National Academy of Sciences, and other interested government bodies and institutions, is responsible for developing recommendations on time calculation.

Belarus abandoned the switch to seasonal time in 2011. This decision was made by Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 1229 dated September 15, 2011, with the aim of ensuring time calculation within the republic in coordination with the Customs Union member states, as well as full utilization of daylight hours and improvement of working and leisure conditions for the republic's population. Russia also abolished seasonal clock changes in 2011. However, on July 1, 2014, the State Duma of the Russian Federation decided to reintroduce winter time in the country. The clock change will take place on October 26, 2014. Eleven time zones will be established on Russian territory. Moscow time will serve as the reference for calculating local time in these zones.