The number of household service facilities in the Vitebsk region increased by almost 430 units over 5 years

February 24, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. In the Vitebsk region, the number of consumer services facilities has increased by almost 430 units to 2.1 thousand over the past five years. This was announced today at a meeting of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee by Polina Sudilovskaya, Head of the Consumer Services Department of the Vitebsk Region, BELTA correspondent reports. From 2006 to 2010, the number of tailor shops, beauty salons, photo studios, and repair and maintenance workshops for vehicles and footwear increased in the region. Currently, services are provided to the population by about 6 thousand individual entrepreneurs and 1.8 thousand legal entities, including 57 individual entrepreneurs and 594 legal entities in rural areas. More than 10 thousand people are employed in the consumer services sector. There are 284 integrated reception points (IRP). In 2010, consumer services per capita in the region amounted to Br191.2 thousand. The highest growth rates in the volume of consumer services rendered were provided by the Liozno, Rossono, and Dubrovno districts, and Novopolotsk. The existing stationary network of consumer services allows for on-site services or order fulfillment for 139.2 thousand residents of the region, which is 41.7% of the rural population. Part of the rural population, 194.6 thousand people, uses mobile services. At the same time, the share of consumer services provided to rural residents in the total volume of services rendered last year was 10.1% compared to 8.9% in 2006. Investments in the development of the consumer services sector from 2006 to 2010 amounted to Br31.4 billion. However, despite the generally positive results, there are a number of shortcomings in the industry, stated Polina Sudilovskaya. For example, there is an insufficient level of infrastructure development in new housing areas and rural areas, and a shortage of qualified personnel and own working capital is felt. In this regard, a new industry development program for 2011-2015 was presented for consideration by the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee and members of the meeting. During the discussion of the document, the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Kosinets, noted a number of its weaknesses and instructed to finalize it. "Many of the facilities planned to be opened in the program in 2013-2014 are needed by the population now, not in a few years. In addition, it is necessary to conduct a sociological survey to clearly identify the services that people need," the governor said. -0-