Russian journalists and bloggers will visit the Vitebsk region as part of a press tour
Such trips to our country for Russian journalists are organized almost every year. Their purpose is to show what Belarus is living by, how its economy is developing, what has been achieved recently in the social policy sphere, and what needs to be addressed in the near future. This time, the Vitebsk region will be the focus of attention for media representatives from 45 regions of Russia.
Participants of the press tour from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tambov, Bryansk, Belgorod, Tula, Smolensk, Pskov, Voronezh, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, Kaliningrad, Novgorod, Izhevsk, Kazan, Ufa, Omsk, Samara, Astrakhan, Rostov, Khabarovsk, and other regions will visit Polotsk.
Russians will be interested to see firsthand the city, which is called the "father of Belarusian cities," the cradle of Belarusian statehood. After all, it is from here that the history and culture of Belarus take their roots, it is here that Belarusian book printing and enlightenment originated. Rogneda, Vseslav the Sorcerer, Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Francysk Skaryna – the historical path of our country is inextricably linked with these names.
The excursion program in the ancient city includes visits to the branches of the National Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve – the St. Sophia Cathedral and the Museum of Belarusian Book Printing. Russians will visit the Spaso-Yevfrosinievsky Monastery, which has become a recognized center of Belarusian Orthodoxy and spirituality. Currently, the holy abode is visited annually by hundreds of pilgrimage and tourist groups. Christians from different countries of the world come to venerate the relics of St. Euphrosyne: Russia, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Great Britain, France, Sweden.
Next, the participants of the press tour will be hosted by Polotsk State University. The university administration will give guests a guided tour of the ancient buildings of the former Polotsk Collegium, showing historical artifacts and telling about the history of the first higher education institution on the territory of Belarus.
Russian journalists will have the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the restored buildings, the comfort of the lecture halls, and the high level of the university's material and technical equipment.
In addition, media representatives will visit one of the youngest Belarusian cities, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. Novopolotsk owes its birth to the construction of a refinery. Today, Naftan OJSC, whose workshops the Russians will visit, is one of the largest petrochemical enterprises in Europe, with products that have conquered markets in more than fifty countries.
The journey through the Vitebsk region will conclude with a meeting with the heads of the regional executive committee, after which the Russian journalists will head to the Dzerzhinsky district of the Minsk region.
The final highlight of the press tour will be a press conference with the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.