About 1.6 thousand jobs were created in Vitebsk in January-July in the private business sector

About 1.6 thousand jobs have been created in the private business sector in Vitebsk in the first half of 2015, said Tatyana Sverbeeva, Head of the Economic Analysis and Forecasting Department of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee's Economics Department.

"The signing of the Directive 'On the Development of Entrepreneurial Initiative and Stimulation of Business Activity in the Republic of Belarus' has given an impetus to the liberalization of economic activity and contributed to improving the conditions for doing business based on the maximum use of private initiative throughout the country, including in Vitebsk. Thanks to comprehensive work in this area, from January to July, 1598 jobs were created in Vitebsk, including 667 by small and medium-sized enterprises and 931 by individual entrepreneurs," explained Tatyana Sverbeeva. In the manufacturing sector, enterprises such as ChUP "PlissaProm", which produces metal construction products, and OOO "Palletgroup", specializing in the production of pallet boards, have emerged and are operating.

In total, as of August 1, 13,415 small and medium-sized enterprises were registered in the city, including 3,654 legal entities and 9,340 individual entrepreneurs. The total number of employed in small and medium-sized organizations, including individual entrepreneurs and their hired employees, is about 56 thousand people.

The growth of entrepreneurial initiative leads to an increase in the contribution of this sector of the economy to the overall budget of the regional center. Currently, the share of revenues to the consolidated budget of Vitebsk from this category of taxpayers is over 18%.

Speaking about specific measures to promote the development of private entrepreneurship, Tatyana Sverbeeva noted the creation of a system for continuous support of small and medium-sized enterprises from the moment of their state registration, at the stage of formation, achievement of financial independence, and during business operations. In Vitebsk, a network of infrastructure entities supporting small and medium-sized enterprises has been created and is operating for this purpose: the Small Business Incubator of Law and Order LLC, the Vitebsk Regional Marketing Center communal unitary consulting enterprise, Vitebsk Business Center ODO, and the Association of Employers and Entrepreneurs public association is functioning.

"The Vitebsk City Executive Committee closely cooperates with these organizations, implements joint events, and informs business entities about exhibitions, fairs, conferences, and business meetings for business, including foreign ones," emphasized Tatyana Sverbeeva.

Also, in order to create favorable conditions for entrepreneurship and strengthen the partnership between private and state forms of ownership, a council for the development of entrepreneurship has been functioning at the City Executive Committee since 2003.

Ekaterina Knyazeva, BELTA.