Trade enterprises of the Vitebsk region invested Br15.6 billion in modernization and construction in the first half of the year.

July 23, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Trade enterprises of the Vitebsk region invested Br15.6 billion in technical modernization, reconstruction and construction of new facilities in the first half of the current year, Deputy Head of the Trade Department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Natalya Dolgova told a BELTA correspondent. Large retail facilities in Polotsk and Vitebsk were built by joint-stock companies "Nika", "Vesta" and LLC "Strelets". According to her, the region is overfulfilling the social standard for providing retail space: with a norm of 260 sq.m per 1 thousand inhabitants, it is 348 sq.m per 1 thousand inhabitants. In total, there are 4.5 thousand stores, 38 shopping centers, and 62 markets operating in the region. 19 stores have retail space exceeding 1 thousand sq.m. 87 branded retail outlets operate to promote domestic goods in the domestic market. Technical re-equipment of the industry will be continued. One of the main tasks will be to expand the network of payment terminals for paying for goods with plastic cards. Such equipment is planned to be installed in all trade enterprises. According to operational data, in the first six months of 2009, the turnover of trade enterprises in the Vitebsk region increased by 2.6% compared to the same period last year. -0-