The 1150th anniversary of Polotsk has been recognized by UNESCO as one of the most important international commemorative dates and included by this international organization in the 2012-2013 calendar. The decision was made at the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference in Paris. The inclusion of the anniversary of the ancient Belarusian city in the honorary list testifies to the significance of this event for world culture. In this regard, the jubilee city has been given the opportunity to hold an exhibition in its honor at UNESCO headquarters.

July 31, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. About 1,000 officials in the Vitebsk region have been punished in the first half of the year for violations of labor protection legislation, the first deputy head of the Vitebsk regional department of the State Labor Inspectorate Department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Sergey Anufriev, told a BELTA correspondent.

As of the morning of March 17, 135 snowplows are operating on republican highways, over a hundred vehicles are spreading a sand-salt mixture, and teams are working to clear snow from bridges.

The Minister noted that it is too early to talk about individual aspects of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reform, but the main directions of these transformations have been determined. "We have developed the directions along which the reform will take place. The main goal of the reform is to make the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs more effective, and the structure – compact and results-oriented," stated Igor Shunevich.

Today, more than 200 hammer throwers from different countries will begin competing for the Vadim Devyatovsky prizes

The investigation may identify the person involved in the hooligan explosion near the KGB administration building in Vitebsk. This was announced today at a press conference by the head of the Investigative Committee Department for the Vitebsk region, Vladimir Shalukhin, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

Private business has not yet occupied its niche in production and consumer services. This opinion was expressed today at a briefing in connection with Vitebsk being recognized as the best regional center in Belarus for doing business by the Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee, Zinaida Koroleva, BELTA correspondent reports.

Among the most profitable open joint-stock companies in the Vitebsk region by the end of the half-year, in addition to petrochemical enterprises, there are representatives of trade, light industry, dairy plants, construction organizations, processors, and agricultural producers.