RUE "Vitebskenergo" celebrated its 50th anniversary
Торжества по этому случаю проходили аккурат в тот день, когда всему миру пророчили конец света, а некоторая часть населения планеты усиленно готовилась пересидеть его в бункерах, основательно запасшись свечами и тушенкой. И как бы комично это ни выглядело, но сам факт того, что конец света многие отождествляли с отключением электричества, свидетельствует о высокой значимости профессии энергетика. Эти люди – настоящие волшебники, которые несут в каждый дом свет и тепло. Вот только творят они чудеса не посредством магии, а благодаря своим знаниям, опыту, высокому чувству долга и ответственности.
The celebrations for this occasion took place precisely on the day when the end of the world was predicted for the entire world, and a certain part of the planet's population was actively preparing to survive it in bunkers, having thoroughly stocked up on candles and canned stew. And however comical it may have seemed, the very fact that many equated the end of the world with a power outage testifies to the high importance of the power engineer profession. These people are true magicians who bring light and warmth to every home. The only difference is that they perform their miracles not through magic, but through their knowledge, experience, and a high sense of duty and responsibility.
Opening the celebratory evening, the General Director of RUP "Vitebskenergo" Pavel Kharitonov emphasized that fifty years ago, scattered electrification facilities were united into a single system to "light the Ilyich's lamp" in every home. And even specialists could not imagine how far science could advance, what technically complex tasks the followers of the first power engineers would solve. Currently, Vitebsk region generates more than 40 percent of the electricity produced in the republic. The heart of our energy system is the Lukomlskaya GRES. Vital arteries are BelGRES (which is where it all began), Vitebsk, Novopolotsk, Polotsk, and Orsha CHPPs. But our power engineers do not intend to stop at what has been achieved. Work has begun on the construction of a cascade of hydroelectric power stations on the Western Dvina River: the Polotsk and Vitebsk HPPs are actively under construction. In the future, two more stations are planned to appear in Vitebsk region – Beshenkovichi and Verkhnedvinsk HPPs. A modernization of grand scale is being carried out at all energy facilities of the region. Moreover, not only with own and budget funds, but also with the involvement of direct foreign investments.
These and many other achievements were discussed by the Minister of Energy of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Ozerets (who, by the way, moved to this position from "Vitebskenergo"), the First Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Vladimir Novatsky, who conveyed congratulations on the anniversary from the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Alexander Kosinets, while warmly congratulating the power engineers. Words of sincere gratitude for many years of reliable partnership were expressed by the General Director of UP "Vitebskoblgaz", member of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Petr Shershen.
After that, the festive atmosphere in the hall was created by artists of the Belarusian stage Viktoria Aleshko, Inna Afanasyeva, and the gypsy song ensemble "Allyur".