The average salary in the Vitebsk region may exceed $500 by the end of the year - A.Kosinenets

July 9, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The average salary in the Vitebsk region may exceed the $500 mark by the end of the year. This was announced today at a joint meeting of the presidium of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies and the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee by the chairman of the regional executive committee, Alexander Kosinets, BELTA correspondent reports. "The average salary for May of the current year amounted to $400, in June it will be higher. The indicators are being revised so that by the end of the year the average salary in the region reaches $580," the governor said. The basis for the optimistic forecast is the stable performance of enterprises in the production sector. Thus, the growth rate of gross regional product for the first half of the year was 122% compared to the same period last year. As Alexander Kosinets emphasized, high rates were achieved not only due to increased oil refining volumes. The growth rate of services rendered was 123%. Enterprise inventories are minimal and amount to one-third of the monthly norm. "This indicates that the products of Vitebsk enterprises are liquid, competitive, and in demand both in the domestic and foreign markets," the chairman of the regional executive committee stressed. The export of enterprises of communal property and without departmental subordination for the first half of the year increased fivefold compared to the same period last year. The foreign trade balance, excluding oil and oil products, was positive at $1 billion, which is 3.5 times higher than the established annual target. As expected, the budget surplus will be at the level of Br1 trillion.