Approximately 6.5 million rubles from the regional budget will be allocated to finance innovative projects

Approximately 6.5 million rubles will be allocated from the regional budget to finance projects under the state program of innovative development for 2016-2020 this year. This decision was approved yesterday by the deputies of the regional council at an extraordinary session, along with other adjustments to individual indicators of the regional budget for 2017.

According to Boris Kichanovsky, head of the main financial department of the regional executive committee, the need for budget adjustments arose to promptly address the current tasks of the region's life support. Thus, some of the adjustments are dictated by the need to ensure the debt sustainability of the local treasury. This is related to the measures being implemented to support agricultural producers. In addition, almost 10 million rubles are being transferred from the republican budget for the construction and reconstruction of engineering and transport infrastructure and the improvement of the urban settlement of Kopys in the Orsha region, due to which the revenues of the regional budget have been adjusted.

From the innovation fund of the regional executive committee, projects of LLC "Belama Plus" (Orsha district) in the field of agricultural production, OJSC "Vitebsk Carpets", as well as SOOO "Novopolotsk Metal Construction Plant" will be financed this year. About 2 million rubles are planned to be allocated to the center for the transfer of medical and pharmaceutical technologies of Vitebsk State Medical University, which is the only such subject of innovative infrastructure in Belarus created at a university. About 300 thousand rubles will be directed to finance research and development work in the field of agriculture.

Assessing the execution of the region's budget in 2017, Boris Kichanovsky noted that it has not yet been possible to ensure the planned growth rates of revenues from personal income tax, environmental tax, and VAT. Measures to increase and mobilize revenues have attracted about 400 million rubles to the local budget over 4 months. Basic budget obligations are being fulfilled. During this period, expenditures amounted to about 540 million rubles, which is almost 30% of the adjusted annual plan. The main

part of the funds (70%) is directed to financing the socio-cultural sphere. At the same time, since the beginning of the year, the accounts payable of budgetary organizations have increased by 5.3 million to 18.7 million rubles. The volume of regional debt has decreased and is at a safe level.

Sergey Antonov, "Vitebskiye vesti".