In 2014, the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry intends to fully utilize the opportunities of the state social procurement mechanism

The Belarusian Red Cross Society (BRCS) intends to fully utilize the opportunities of the state social order (SSO) mechanism in 2014. This was announced by the organization's Secretary General, Viktor Kolbanov, in response to a question from a BELTA correspondent. In Vitebsk, he is participating in a meeting of the extended presidium on the results of the Vitebsk regional organization of the BRCS for 2012.

"The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection has met us halfway and decided to work out the state social order mechanism for financing the nursing service precisely with the BRCS. Novopolotsk in the Vitebsk region, and Lida and Slonim districts in the Grodno region have been designated as pilot regions for this," said Viktor Kolbanov, emphasizing that the current year is important for refining the entire mechanism of obtaining state social orders, forming the necessary regulatory framework, and accumulating work experience. Subsequently, the BRCS intends to replicate the accumulated knowledge and experience among other public organizations.

"Today, the nursing service is a sufficiently effective form of medical and social work and is incredibly in demand. Meanwhile, one nurse can serve only 10 people per day on average. In rural areas, this figure is even lower – 7-8 people. Therefore, we intend to develop this form of work through the state social order system. Starting from 2014, funds for this area will be allocated in the budget of each district," noted the Secretary General of the BRCS, adding that the number of nurses will depend on the allocated funding.

The introduction of the SSO mechanism is envisaged for the first time in Belarus by the new law on social services, which came into force on January 1, 2013. Its essence lies in attracting non-profit public organizations and individual entrepreneurs to provide social services in order to solve the most pressing social problems for each specific region. When preparing the draft law, the experience of legal regulation of these relations in the Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine was used.