Vitebsk region is among the winners among regions based on the results of the five-year plan

Based on the results of 2011–2015, for achieving the best results in fulfilling the main indicators of the socio-economic development forecast, Vitebsk region was recognized as one of the winners of the competition among regions and was inscribed on the Republican Board of Honor. The current five-year plan should be even more ambitious in terms of the scale of changes in all areas of life, structural reforms designed to ensure Vitebsk region's confident move towards an innovative development path.

This was announced on June 16 by the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev, at the regional forum of participants of the fifth All-Belarusian People's Assembly. According to tradition, the event was dedicated to summarizing the results of the region's five-year development and discussing directions for further improving the quality of life of citizens and solving pressing problems.

The region's achievements in the previous five-year period have been confirmed by the country's leadership. As Nikolai Sherstnev noted, socio-political stability has been maintained in Vitebsk region, and a significant increase in key development indicators has been ensured. Evidence of improved quality of life for people is the positive dynamics of the average wage level (including inflation), real monetary income, and the average pension amount. The region has made a serious leap in demographics. During this period, the birth rate increased from 10.1 per 1,000 population in 2010 to 11.2 in 2015, life expectancy of Vitebsk region residents increased by 3.5 years (72.9 years), and mortality decreased.

All this became possible thanks to the development of the real sector of the economy, emphasized the head of the region. Speaking about key indicators, gross regional product increased by 7.5%, labor productivity by 17.7%, Vitebsk region also increased industrial production, export of services, retail trade turnover, etc. Today, the share of the region's industrial complex in the total republican production volume exceeds 15%. Over the five-year period, more than 200 new industrial enterprises of all forms of ownership were created. For these purposes, as well as for technical re-equipment

over 38 trillion rubles have been directed to active production facilities, with more than half of this amount allocated to the purchase of machinery and equipment, which Nikolai Sherstnev specifically noted.

At the same time, Naftan OJSC and Lukomlskaya GRES still account for more than 56% of the industrial product output. Therefore, one of the promising tasks for the region remains to reduce dependence on these industrial giants by organizing enterprises that utilize local raw materials, as well as high-tech companies and production facilities, and creating high-performance jobs.

In addition, in close cooperation with republican management bodies, Nikolai Sherstnev set the task of eliminating the fiscal imbalance, where the profit tax paid by republican enterprises (accounting for over 80% of the industrial production volume of the Vitebsk region) goes to the republican budget, leaving the region to deal with the social issues of the employees of these organizations on its own.

The overall result of the previous five-year period was negatively affected not only by difficult external economic conditions but also by internal shortcomings and deficiencies, which will require serious work to eliminate in the future. One of the significant sources for the growth of industrial production is the full utilization of production capacities.

Achieving maximum capacity solely in the meat and dairy industry enterprises will allow for a twofold increase in production volumes compared to the 2015 level. The same can be said for the woodworking industry and a number of other sectors.

"This is a huge reserve, by mobilizing which it will be possible to increase industrial volumes manifold, and I am directing all managers towards this goal," added the **head of the region**. Another crucial indicator that needs to be worked on universally is the creation of at least 2,000 jobs. Although the registered unemployment rate is 1.1% of the economically active population, the creation of high-performance jobs is among the priorities of the current five-year period.

Over the past period, positive dynamics in the production of gross agricultural output were achieved, with an increase of 6%. For the first time in 2015, Vitebsk agrarians exported grain – slightly over 100 thousand tons of wheat were sold to Russia for 12.7 million dollars. This historical fact was specifically mentioned by the head of the region. In total, last year the volume of agricultural exports amounted to 290 million dollars, with about 30% of the total produced output supplied to foreign markets. A significant amount of work has been done on the reconstruction of dairy farms, but 160 such agricultural facilities are still not ready.

The primary task for the five-year period is to bring the matter to a logical conclusion, and in the future, to focus on creating only large commodity complexes. By increasing the number of dairy cattle and their productivity, it is necessary to ensure an annual milk production of at least 1.2 million tons in the future, which will fully supply local dairy plants with raw materials.

It is also necessary to intensify the development of cattle breeding, both by creating our own feed base and by implementing highly effective feeding technologies, without forgetting to increase the number of livestock. Foreign investors need to be more actively attracted to this sphere, emphasized Nikolai Sherstnev.

In addition, cardinal changes are taking place in the management of the agro-industrial complex in the Vitebsk region. This concerns the formation of cooperative and integrated structures. Although the process of integrating economic entities has not yet been formally completed, it is already possible to speak of positive changes and current positive results of their production activities. This once again emphasizes the correctness of the steps being taken.

Thus, for these structures, over 4 months of 2016, revenue from sales of products increased by 12 percentage points, and organizations achieved positive sales profitability, which amounted to 3%. This path must be continued, not stopping at only 5 integration structures. Already during the discussion, the chairman of the Verkhnedvinsk district executive committee

Igor Markovich proposed creating such an educational institution at the Verkhnedvinsk Butter and Cheese Factory. Entrepreneurship is a significant reserve for economic development. Over the five-year period, the share of payments from business entities in budget revenues increased to 22%, and in some districts, it is significantly higher. Approximately 1,000 new enterprises and productions have been created in this sphere, generating over 9,700 jobs. "Today, in essence, no one and nothing prevents people from doing business, so the task for the next five-year period is to increase the share of small and medium-sized entrepreneurship in gross value added, as well as the number of people employed in this sector," said Nikolai Sherstnev. Moreover, private business effectively attracts foreign investment and operates in foreign markets, and these areas are considered priorities in the current five-year period. In addition, the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee elaborated on the transformations in the social sphere, in particular, the upcoming optimization of the education system and the improvement of healthcare efficiency, which are to be implemented in the future. "The current five-year period should be a turning point in the socio-economic development of the Vitebsk region in all spheres of life. To achieve this, it is necessary to utilize not only economic levers but also social factors, and create conditions for the creative self-realization of individuals," noted Nikolai Nikolaevich. The main goal of the development of the region and the country as a whole remains unchanged – to improve the quality of life of the population through innovative development and increased economic competitiveness. 350 delegates have been delegated from the Vitebsk region to the Fifth All-Belarusian People's Assembly. Among them, 79 people represent the social sphere, 144 specialists represent the real sector of the economy, and 38 workers represent the agro-industrial complex. Of the total number of delegates, 128 are women, and 35 are young people under 30 years of age. More than 86% of the participants have higher education, including 13 who hold academic degrees, and another 72 people have been awarded state decorations.

Sergey Antonov. Photo by Anton Stepanishchev. "Vitebskiye vesti".