Vitebsk region forestry enterprises harvested over 2 thousand tons of birch sap

April 25, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Forestry enterprises of the Vitebsk region will complete birch sap harvesting this week, Oleg Gritskevich, lead engineer for secondary forest use and subsidiary agriculture of the Vitebsk Regional Production Forestry Association (PLHO), told a BELTA correspondent. Harvesting of the spring drink has been underway in the country's northernmost region since the end of March. During this time, the region's forestry enterprises harvested 2.2 thousand tons of sap against a plan of 2.5 thousand tons. The leaders this spring are Glubokskoye and Begomlskoye (Dokshitsy district) forestry enterprises, with over 300 tons of sap each, as well as Disna (Miory district), Lepel, and Postavy forestry enterprises. In the remaining structural divisions of PLHO, harvesting is proceeding at a moderate pace due to the prolonged spring. 117 tons have been sold to the public during the past period, with 50 tons of them sold by Vitebsk forestry enterprise and 5 tons through a specially organized sales point of Begomlskoye forestry enterprise on the Vitebsk - Minsk highway. Local residents have also been actively harvesting the drink themselves by contacting forestry units, noted Oleg Gritskevich, adding that forest rangers have not identified any cases of unauthorized sap harvesting this year. Forestry enterprises of the Vitebsk regional consumer union, VITEBSKPIShCHEPROm state enterprise, Savushkin Product OJSC, Borisov Cannery, and Minsk Non-Alcoholic Beverage Plant have received over 2.1 thousand tons of the drink from the region's forestry enterprises. In the coming days, it is planned to ship another 200-300 tons. Birch sap harvesting in the Vitebsk region will be completed by May 1. -0-