Nikolai Sherstnev: "Big business can give a powerful impetus to the development of regions"

Large businesses can give a powerful impetus to the development of regions, and the task of the authorities is to create attractive conditions in the hinterland for serious business people. This opinion was shared in an interview with a BELTA correspondent by the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev, commenting on the report of the government, the National Bank, regional executive committees, and the Minsk City Executive Committee on the results of the economy's performance in 2017 and the tasks for ensuring sustainable economic growth.

The governor noted that uneven development of regions affects the quality of life of people, and therefore the situation needs to be leveled. One of the effective mechanisms is attracting investors. So far, the highest concentration of entrepreneurial people in the country is in the capital region. "Unfortunately, businessmen are not particularly eager to go to the periphery and develop production there. They have their own reasons and a number of objective and subjective causes for this. The task of local and central authorities is to act in concert to create attractive conditions in the regions for business, small and large, domestic and foreign. By the way, there are already examples of attracting significant investments in the Vitebsk region. For example, the white tin plant under construction in Miory is a huge enterprise with an investment of 250 million euros," said the head of the region.

According to Nikolai Sherstnev, the development of regions is based on two main components: state policy to support regions and attracting significant non-state investments to the hinterland. "Both the first and the second are equally important. State support includes the construction of new roads and assistance to production facilities important for the country. Attracting business, both Belarusian and foreign, means creating new high-performance, and therefore high-income, jobs, significant contributions to the budget, strengthening the social sphere, and overall, regional development and improving the quality of life of our people," the governor summarized.

BELTA.