From oil refining to transport: what investment projects will be implemented in the Vitebsk region in 2020?
This was emphasized by the chairman of the regional executive committee, Nikolai Sherstnev, to the region's management asset when summarizing the results of 2019 at a recent session of the regional Council of Deputies. The social policy pursued in the region is aimed at ensuring a decent standard of living for citizens, strengthening the demographic status, increasing the educational and cultural potential of the population, comprehensive development of territories, and reducing interregional differences in quality of life. Solving these problems requires attracting investments in all sectors of the economy, Nikolai Sherstnev recalled. In 2020, the total amount of investments will exceed 2.4 billion rubles. How is such investment activity expected to be ensured?
In industry, the implementation of large projects in oil refining will continue, and the construction of the 1st stage of the Miory Metal Rolling Plant will be completed. At the Novopolotsk Plant of Technological Metal Structures, it is planned to launch a new workshop for welded grating. A resident of the FEZ "Vitebsk" with Lithuanian capital, VMG WoodArt company, will begin the construction of a sawmill and furniture production with a processing volume of 500 thousand cubic meters of wood per year and will invest about 57 million dollars in these purposes. Another representative of the FEZ, Akitamа LLC, plans to build three plants in Vitebsk, Polotsk, and Dokshitsy for processing low-grade wood into pellets with an annual volume of 280 thousand cubic meters and an investment amount of 19 million dollars. IE "Vitebsk Sawmill" is preparing to launch a new woodworking complex.
Among the investment projects in the agro-industrial complex, the chairman of the regional executive committee highlighted the construction, with the involvement of technologies from the Israeli company "Agrigo," of two pig breeding complexes for 5,000 sows by the enterprise "Vitebsky Bekon" in the Liozno and Orsha districts. It is planned to complete the construction of innovative dairy complexes "Kupalinka," "Ustye," "Khotily-Agro," "Churilovo," and to begin the construction of five new ones.
An important project is scheduled for completion in 2020 in Vitebsk – a waste sorting plant. In addition, in the housing and communal services sector, the construction of 80 iron removal stations will continue, financed by EBRD loans, which will improve the water supply quality for 30,000 rural residents in the upcoming five-year period.
To improve public transport services, 26 buses and 10 trolleybuses with autonomous running capability will be purchased. The construction of the "Polotsky" overpass in Vitebsk and the "Bremno-Orsha" logistics center will continue.
In the social sphere, in 2020, investment potential will be concentrated on facilities such as the construction of a school for 1020 places in the Bilevo-2 district and a new building for the "Zhemchuzhina" children's rehabilitation and health center, the reconstruction of the surgical building of the regional clinical oncology dispensary and the Vitebsk City Central Clinical Hospital, the building of the "Orsha" City Palace of Culture, and a number of other projects. Landscaping of the urban settlements of Vidzy and Obol, as well as facilities of the regional center, which will be preparing for the "Slavianski Bazaar" International Arts Festival and the "Dazhynki-2020" regional festival-fair, is planned.
— Every year we grow with new social facilities – we open hospitals, kindergartens, schools, gyms, swimming pools, stadiums. All this places a serious burden on the budget, which grows from year to year. Therefore, I urge everyone to approach the planning of social sphere development very thoughtfully and responsibly, — emphasized Nikolai Sherstnev. — Moreover, the budget deficit of the region is decreasing year by year, which indicates that the region is earning. Nevertheless, there are not enough funds left for development. Their main sources remain cost reduction and efficient work. By summing up the profit and the money released from cost optimization, we can invest in the development of not only the social, but also the production spheres.
The tasks are complex, but solvable. Especially since the potential of the Vitebsk region is huge. Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Natalya Kochanova drew attention to this. She focused on issues of pricing, employment, and wages.
— The Vitebsk region is lagging behind in fulfilling the wage growth indicator, which should be around one thousand rubles on average, — reminded the Chairperson of the Council of the Republic. In addition, it is necessary to solve employment issues on an individual basis, for which clear tasks should be set for the heads of enterprises, organizations, and institutions to create jobs with decent wages.
Important tasks for the region remain the development of the Orsha district, as well as cities with a population of more than 80 thousand people – Orsha, Polotsk, and Novopolotsk. These are pilot projects that will subsequently need to be scaled to all cities, regardless of their population size, reminded the Speaker of the Council of the Republic.
Another serious issue is the work on implementing the head of state's instructions on the agro-industrial complex of the northern region.
— Everyone must understand the measure of their responsibility – both local authorities and enterprise managers. Then all tasks can be solved. Moreover, the President pays close attention to the region and supports all proposals for its development, — emphasized Natalya Kochanova.