Polotsk must preserve its special status
At the sessions of the city and district Councils of Deputies, a decision was made to agree to the merger of Polotsk and Polotsk District into one administrative-territorial unit with the center in Polotsk.
Information on this issue, which is relevant for local residents, was reported to the deputies of the City Council by the Deputy Chairman of the City Executive Committee, Alexander Mikhalievich. He noted that previously 12 cities and districts of Belarus had been merged into one administrative-territorial unit. A. Mikhalievich cited the functioning of unified services in medicine, sanitation and epidemiology, ecology, communications, military commissariat, Ministry of Emergency Situations, statistics, and state insurance as prerequisites for initiating this process in Polotsk region.
The merger, according to the speaker, will allow for more prompt, targeted, and comprehensive resolution of socio-economic development issues in the region. The conditions for the activities of economic entities and the cooperation of various structures will improve. In addition, management processes will be optimized, and the costs of maintaining the apparatus will be reduced. The implementation of this proposal should not entail changes in budget financing or any negative consequences for legal entities and individuals, including individual entrepreneurs.
The opinion of citizens was taken into account from October 1 to 31, after the publication of the relevant appeal on local websites and in the joint newspaper "Polotski Vesnik".
In Polotsk, as noted by A. Mikhalievich, meetings were held in 131 work collectives, and 15,017 people expressed their opinion on this issue. 79.4% of the citizens who participated in the opinion survey supported the merger of the district and the city. 11.4% spoke against the merger, and 9.2% did not express a definite opinion.
In the Polotsk district, 7695 people participated in the discussion of upcoming changes. Of these, 99.8% supported the unification of the city and district into a single administrative-territorial unit.
Deputies Alexander Gudkov and Natalia Korenevskaya, who spoke at the session, also spoke in favor of unification. According to A. Gudkov, chief physician of the Polotsk Central City Hospital, the medical service has been operating in a unified format for seven years, which has productively contributed to improving the health indicators of the population, reducing mortality, and increasing the life expectancy of the rural population from 64 to 65.5 years. N. Korenevskaya, director of the Polotsk Central Library System, also expects positive results for the functioning of the cultural sphere.
The point of view of citizens disagreeing with the unification was expressed at the session by deputy Igor Suschevich, director of SOOO "Zavod Novdvig". He recalled the special significance of Polotsk for the entire country as the cradle of Belarusian statehood, spirituality, and culture. It is unacceptable to allow the national pearl to lose its luster. According to I. Suschevich, the city received the greatest development when it had a separate status. And its transformation into an ordinary district center will contribute to provincialism and essentially means the liquidation of city self-government that had been strengthening for centuries.
Vladimir Severin, head of the organizational and personnel work department of the regional executive committee, who took part in the session, assured the deputies that Polotsk would not get lost or become ordinary in the new administrative-territorial structure, and its name would remain invariably respected. According to V. Severin, this is evidenced by the adopted state programs and the attention paid to the city by the regional and republican authorities.
Natalia Guyvik, a deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, who was relieved of her duties as chairperson of the Polotsk City Council at the session, also expressed confidence that the status of the historical capital of Belarus will not be diminished.
– Polotsk will always remain Polotsk, and together we will reach new heights, – said Natalia Vasilievna and thanked her colleagues for their fruitful joint work. She promised to justify the trust of the voters and work for the benefit of her beloved city, making efforts in the new conditions to multiply what has been achieved.