How private companies operate in the construction services market in Vitebsk

As Anatoly Kalinin emphasized, following the event, proposals are to be formed and a draft normative act is to be developed, which will clearly regulate the conditions for business, as well as interaction with regulatory bodies.

– As we saw from the example of private companies in Vitebsk, business does not need to be patronized today; it only hinders its effective operation. A private entity competently manages production and is capable of solving the tasks set before it. Therefore, one of the fundamental proposals for improving business conditions may be the introduction of a ten-year ban on inspection activities, – said Anatoly Kalinin. – Such a task has been set by the head of state, and we want to consider this issue through the construction business, and then extend the developments to other areas and sectors.

One of the reserves for improving the business climate is the optimization of the system for obtaining permits for construction. This concerns the reduction of administrative procedures and the list of necessary documents submitted for these procedures, as well as the transfer of the burden of responsibility for certain aspects directly to the business itself, explained the Deputy Minister of Architecture and Construction Dmitry Semenkevich. In this regard, the issue of expertise, which a project must undergo only once, is important, and many approvals at the stage of preparing design and estimate documentation are redundant.

In addition, the issue of organizing construction and installation work on a declarative principle is currently being considered. Currently, it is necessary to obtain a permit for this, but experts consider this procedure to be excessive, noted the Deputy Minister.

– Our task is to assign each body its specific area of responsibility. So that designers, customers, and contractors are responsible for quality, not local authorities that issue permits and conduct administrative procedures. In turn, their improvement will contribute to accelerating construction timelines, – emphasized Dmitry Semenkevich.

Another important topic affecting citizens' interests was the discussion of housing construction quality issues. According to Anatoly Kalinin, Belarus should abandon the construction of individual houses and move towards creating comfortable residential blocks. These blocks should include a kindergarten, sports grounds, and transport should be concentrated along the perimeter, thus addressing safety issues. At the same time, such blocks should be maintained by the developer for at least 5 years, who is accountable to citizens for the quality of work, believes the Deputy Prime Minister. By the way, in the Vitebsk region, almost 240 thousand square meters of housing have been commissioned in the 9 months of this year, and the government's annual target will be met, assured Vladimir Belous, Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee.

At the same time, for the region, housing construction financing problems are becoming particularly acute. Since 2013, the northern region of Belarus has been allocated the smallest volume of state support, as well as funds from the republican budget intended for housing construction in general. A similar situation is observed with subsidies for the development of engineering and transport infrastructure.

Sergey Antonov, photos by Anton Stepanishchev, "Vitebskiye Vesti".