THE ESSENTIAL

There are no obstacles to attracting investments in Belarus, First Deputy Economy Minister Piotr Zhabko told reporters after a session of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers on August 19. The session chaired by Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky discussed the results of the investment activity in Belarus in H1 2008. According to Piotr Zhabko, there are no economic reasons in Belarus for failing to meet the investment target which is to increase investments up as against last year.

Belarus will send humanitarian aid to the people of South Ossetia affected by the military conflict, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky said at the meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on August 14. A special committee for the dispatch of the humanitarian aid has been set up in Belarus. A list of the items to be sent to South Ossetia has been agreed. It includes food and warm clothing. Sergei Sidorsky also noted that Belarus is ready to host two thousand Ossetian children for recuperation.

Belarus’ practices used to calculate and pay taxes should meet European ones, said Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky at an out session dedicated to simplifying the national taxation system on August 7. In his words, at present the Belarusian model is not the worst one but has tight spots. Sergei Sidorsky believes, “The taxation system we should build in the country should be irreversible and should meet standards of the economy of European countries.

Belarus welcomes the UN assistance and partnership initiatives, Prime Minister of Belarus said at a meeting with new UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Belarus Mr. Antonius Bernardus Broek on July 31. Mr Antonius Broek presented Sergei Sidorsky the letters of credence from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who accredited him as UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Belarus. He assured the Prime Minister of Belarus that he will do his best to make the cooperation with Belarus dynamic, innovative, fruitful.

The growth of the international trade deficit of Belarus has substantially slowed down, First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko said at the session of the Council of Ministers of Belarus on July 29. The session was dedicated to the socio-economic development of the country in January-June 2008. “In April, the deficit rose by $400 million, in May only by $214 million,” he said. In January-May 2008, the trade deficit of Belarus totalled $840.5 million.

The Government of Belarus introduced amendments and addenda to the main indices of the socio-economic development forecast 2008. The decision was taken by the Council of Ministers in Resolution №1050 of July 22, 2008. Amendments and addenda were put into governmental resolution #8 of January 4, 2008 that defined the main indicators of the socio-economic development forecast of Belarus in 2008. The new document changes the indices of exports and imports of goods and services, the balance of foreign trade in goods and services for ministries, concerns, oblast executive committees and Minsk.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has ordered to liquidate hurricane consequences in the shortest possible time. The task was set forth during the report of Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky on July 17. According to the presidential press service, Alexander Lukashenko was informed on the work being done to liquidate the consequences of a hurricane that took place on July 13-15. The Minsk oblast, one region in the Mogilev oblast and two regions in the Brest oblast suffered from the natural calamity.

At a session of the Council of Ministers on July 15, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky suggested introducing two new indicators of economic growth. These are the volume of investment per one worker and the volume of innovative and high-technology products in total exports. Sergei Sidorsky stressed the importance of these issues for the economy of the country which has no natural resources and increases GDP by means of high-technology productions. “We have no other way but to boost exports of high-technology goods, therefore we need to project how this process will fare in the future,” he said.

On July 11, Prime Ministers of Belarus and Latvia Sergei Sidorsky and Ivars Godmanis met on the Belarusian-Latvian border in the border checkpoint Urbany-Silene. According to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, the Belarusian and Latvian prime ministers discussed the development of trans-border, trade, economic and investment cooperation. They also considered the improvement of the border infrastructure, the cooperation in transport area, the expansion of the legal-treaty base, the implementation of the joint projects in energy and industrial cooperation.

Belarus and Turkey have a huge potential to boost bilateral trade, First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko noted during a meeting with a Turkish delegation led by Turkish Secretary of State for External Trade Tuncer Kayalar. According to Vladimir Semashko, for the past five years, trade between Belarus and Turkey quadrupled. “It is too little for such countries as Belarus and Turkey,” the Vice Premier highlighted.