The construction of new footwear and leather production facilities is planned to begin this year in the Vitebsk region
Construction of new footwear and leather production facilities is planned to commence in the Vitebsk region this year. This was announced today to journalists by the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Kosinets, in response to a question from a BELTA correspondent.
"This year, we plan to start the construction of new factories that will make the region an undisputed leader in the country's footwear industry," said Alexander Kosinets, emphasizing that the volume of footwear production in the region is planned to reach 12 million pairs by 2018.
According to the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, a number of measures are planned to achieve this goal. The construction of a plant for processing leather and fur raw materials and the modernization of the Vitebsk Fur Combine by the "Marko" holding are planned. The issue of transferring the "PAK" plant in Orsha to the "Belwest" holding with its subsequent modernization into a footwear factory is being resolved. The "Belwest" holding will develop production in small towns of the region.
One of these is being created in Beshenkovichi. In this district center, the first stage of an enterprise for cutting and assembling shoe uppers with a production capacity of 1 thousand pairs per day will be commissioned in the autumn.
To provide these productions with their own raw materials, 21 sheep farms, 15 fish farms, and 15 fur farms will be built in the regions of the area.
"Modernization of enterprises and development of new productions is a priority direction in the Vitebsk region. For this purpose, the Regional Program for Innovative and Investment Development of the Vitebsk Region for 2011-2015, including 19 subprograms, is being implemented," emphasized Alexander Kosinets. Within its framework, in just over four years, more than 12 objects of the processing industry have been modernized in the region, creating competitive products with high added value. Among them are enterprises of the meat and dairy industry.
Touching upon the latter, the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee noted that this year it is planned to commission new cheese factories in Postavy and Braslav, and a fish processing enterprise in Braslav. Another facility scheduled for opening in 2013 is a new baby food workshop at the Orsha Meat Canning Plant.
In addition, the closest attention will be paid to the development of light industry enterprises. "To compete with Chinese manufacturers, we need to significantly reduce the cost of production," noted Alexander Kosinets.
The region's energy complex will continue to develop. "For this purpose, the creation of a cascade of four hydroelectric power stations is planned on the Western Dvina: Polotsk, Vitebsk, Beshenkovichi, and Verkhnedvinsk. The use of local types of fuel is also increasing. Their share in the housing and communal services of the Vitebsk region is more than 52%, and by the end of 2015, it is planned to increase it to 70%," said the governor.
"Our main task is to achieve a high quality of life for people, so that by December of this year the average salary will be $700-800. We can achieve this, but for this, we need to work very hard and qualitatively," concluded Alexander Kosinets.