Abandoned villages in Belarus are planned to be given away for tourist facilities almost for free - Ch. Shulga

April 10, Minsk / Andrei Asfura - BELTA /. Belarus plans to transfer abandoned villages for tourist facilities almost for free, as long as people are engaged in them. This was announced today by Deputy Minister of Sports and Tourism Cheslav Shulga at a meeting with members of the delegation of the Krasnodar Territory, who came to study Belarus's experience in rural tourism, according to a BELTA correspondent. Currently, there are quite a few villages in Belarus where not a single person lives. "This is especially characteristic of the northern regions - Vitebsk and Grodno regions, where the farmstead system prevails," the deputy minister noted. As a result of population aging, in the Braslav district alone, about 12 villages have been excluded from the list of settlements in the last two years due to the fact that there are no residents there. "We are working to find people who could buy out these villages, even for one base value," said Cheslav Shulga. "Let them transform and equip them into tourist villages." The first ones willing to "revive" deserted farmsteads have already appeared: they want to acquire abandoned villages in the Rossony district of the Vitebsk region and the Kopyl district of the Minsk region. However, if they wish, investors can undertake the arrangement of not only abandoned but also existing villages. As an example, the deputy minister cited a Belarusian businessman who made a fortune in the Leningrad region. In the Pruzhany district, he bought out the entire village where his mother lived and created a tourist complex there. "Plus, he added a sports complex, in general, he invested a lot of money in this business," emphasized Cheslav Shulga. -0-