Belarus and Poland will open seven checkpoints for border area residents by the new tourist season. Agreement to that effect was reached at a meeting of Belarusian and Polish officials in Kamenets, Brest region, on December 12.
Aleksandr Mikhnevich, Belarus' deputy foreign minister and co-chairman of the Belarusian-Polish committee on cross-border cooperation, said that the seven checkpoints include six that were closed in May and one checkpoint in the Grodno region will open for traffic along the Avgustovsky (Awgustowski) Canal.
A checkpoint in the Kamenets district and the Avgustovsky checkpoint will have the international status, while the rest will have the interstate status, Mr. Mikhnevich noted. Travelers would be able to cross the border on boats and on foot through the Avgustrovsky checkpoint, on foot and on bikes through the second international checkpoint, and on foot through the other checkpoints.
Polish officials pledged to sort out all legal formalities before January 1, 2004. The Pererow-Belovezha checkpoint in the Kamenets district is to reopen in June.
"The European Union expansion should not harm bilateral relations," Mr. Mikhnevich stressed. "Today we spoke the same language. It took us just two hours and a half to agree on reopening the border checkpoints. Therefore, traffic across Belarusian-Polish border will intensify next spring."
Pawel Dakowski, deputy interior minister and co-chairman of the Belarusian-Polish commission on cross-border cooperation, noted that the fact that the sides can resolve problems is a good step to cooperation. The officials visited the Pererow-Belovezha checkpoint after the talks and then signed a protocol of the meeting.
China's National People's Congress members, who arrived in Belarus on December 10, stayed in Brest on Saturday and Sunday.
The delegation met with Leonid Lemeshevsky, chairman of the Brest Regional Soviet, on Saturday. Mr. Lemeshevsky noted that his region has been working closely with Chinese provinces. In particular, he said, Nikolai Gordiyevich, chairman of the Brest City Executive Committee, and Gennady Prorovsky, director general of the Brest Subsidiary of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, visited the Yunnan province in China recently to sign a cooperation accord between the subsidiary and the province's International Trade Promotion Committee. A delegation of officials and business executives from the Yunnan province will visit Brest in February 2004.
Mr. Lemeshevsky stressed that his region is interested in drawing investment from China, including in the Free Economic Zone "Brest," electronic factories Tsvetotron and Kamerton, and the pharmaceutical industry.
The region sells more goods to China than China sells to the region. China supplies chemical fibers, furniture fittings, chemical threads and sea products, and imports electronic goods, nuts, screws and bolts.
On Sunday, the delegation went to the Ostrometchevo state farm and the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha."
The waiting crowds of those seeking visas from the Polish Consulate General in Brest have thinned in recent weeks.
The consulate currently issues no more than 400 visas a day instead of 800 as was formerly the case. Since September 5, the institution has reportedly issued some 28,000 visas, mostly to Belarusian
citizens.
This week the visa office of the Consulate General has moved into a new building, where there are 12 walk-up windows: three for information services, eight for handing in applications, and one for paying
fees. The former building had only five windows. The visa office has additionally hired 15 staff.
Brestskoye Pivo, the Brest-based brewer, wants to borrow $19 million from Priorbank for a modernization project it plans to launch next year.
The brewer has recently submitted its business plan to the Ministry of Economy for approval.
Russia's Ochakovo wanted to acquire 75 percent in Brestskoye Pivo earlier this year, promising to spend up to $25 million on an upgrade project that would enable the brewery to increase annual output to 5 million decaliters by 2006. However, the government refused to sell a controlling stake. Brestskoye Pivo saw its output rise to about 2 million in January through November 2003. Earlier this year, its brand
Belovezhskoye was picked up for the top award among 22 Belarusian and Russian beers by a jury that consisted of representatives of the Belarusian State Food Industry Concern (Belgospishcheprom) and the Ministry of Health. The success inspired the brewery to begin modernization to boost its output threefold, Oleg Kisel, director of Brestskoye Pivo, told BelaPAN. The brewery plans to master new light brands and beer mixes.
Under the Belarusian government's plan unveiled in March, its stake in Brestskoye Pivo, as well as in Krynitsa, Dednovo, the Slutsk Brewery and the brewery that is part of the Mogilyov regional food industry group, is to become trust stock controlled by Priorbank. The bank would lend a total of $61.5 million to these breweries in 2003-2005 to finance their
modernization.
15 December 2003