The Belarusian-German Santa Bremor fish-processing company is the biggest investor in the Free Economic Zone "Brest," having spent $19 million on its manufacturing facilities there, Nikolai Krivetsky, head of the FEZ administration, said at a national investment seminar held in this regional center on June 19-20.
According to Mr. Krivetsky, Santa Bremor processes 2.5 million out of 6 million tons of capelin caviar produced in the
world every year.
Santa Bremor supplies its products to Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Israel and Lebanon and has partnership
ties with many companies in Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Russia, he said.
The company operates four plants, three of these involved in salting, smoking and packaging herring filets, occupying a
total area of 8,000 square meters. Its range of products includes about 100 items made of Atlantic and Pacific herring, including pates, rolls and salads.
The Belarusian-Czech furniture maker Involux has invested the second largest amount, more than $8 million, said Mr. Krivetsky.
"Every dollar spent by the government on the development of the zone has yielded $17 in investment…. In China, investment never even reached half of the government's expenditure in the first five years," he noted. However, speakers at the seminar noted that Belarus' FEZs so far have not met the government's high expectations, although 237 new enterprises have been started there, 17,000 new jobs have been created, and each dollar spent by the government on their development has yielded ten.
Historian Leonid Nesterchuk called the discovery of remains of Thaddeus Kosciusko's estate at his birthplace in western Belarus a sensation, noting that the find would make it possible to restore the building on the old foundation rather than to rebuild it from scratch.
The foundation and a basement of the 17th century building were discovered by archeologists at Merechovshchina, Ivatsevichi district, where Thaddeus Kosciusko was born in 1746.
The excavations were the first stage of the Brest regional government's effort to rebuild the estate and open a museum there.
Mr. Nesterchuk said archeologists have found ceramics, coins, and iron items in the ruins.
Thaddeus Kosciusko (Pol. Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Bel. Tadevush Kastsyushka), fought against the British in the American Revolutionary army, then returned to his homeland to lead a 1794 uprising for
Polish independence. A defeat from the united forces of Austria, Prussia and Russia was followed by years in Russian captivity. Pardoned by Emperor Paul I of Russia, Kosciusko spent his last years in
exile and died in Switzerland in 1817. Kosciusko rests at the castle of Polish kings in Krakow. His heart is kept at the royal palace in Warsaw.
His estate was twice rebuilt before -- by Duke Puslowski in mid 19th century, and later by the Polish authorities in 1930s. The building was destroyed during World War II. Mr. Nesterchuk said the plan of the foundation has not changed since Kosciusko's birth.
Two senior customs inspectors in Brest were charged with bribery on June 19 and are awaiting trial in jail. Both men, aged 34 and 44, were arrested by police officers at the Brest Tsentralny railroad station on the same day, while accepting a $1,700 bribe from a Minsk-based businessman for issuing illegally a certificate that would legalize the import of $76,000 from Poland.
The government placed under its protection an area of 7,950 hectares in the Brest region, designating the territory Pribuzhskoye Polesye.
The measure should be conducive to conserving the area's unique landscape and rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, Nina Tikhonenko, a chief nature reserve expert with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, told BelaPAN. The ministry seeks to preserve unique forest habitats and terrain features of the Polesye region, she noted.
The reserve is inhabited by seven species of reptiles, 12 of amphibia, 40 of fish, 50 of mammals and 214 of birds. Eighty-one out of the 180 threatened species of animals entered in the Red Book of Belarus live in the area. The ministry plans to cooperate with Ukraine and Poland to incorporate the territory into a large international nature reserve, Ms. Tikhonenko said. Belarus has 26 national landscape reserves, according to the official. Efforts are underway to establish a new reserve in the Shchuchin district of the Grodno region, she noted.
Residents of the town of Kamenyuki in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha nature reserve have petitioned Aleksandr Lukashenko to protect them and the ancient forest from the arbitrariness of the reserve's management.
"With pain in our heart, we see that something wrong is happening in the national park and the forest," the letter says. The Kamenyuki residents note that hundreds of locals have been sacked by the management in the last two years. "Most of them fell into disfavor with the new management only because they are locals, they love and are devoted to Belovezhskaya Pushcha," the petition reads. The dismissed are replaced by "alien" manpower from other regions, who often have a criminal record, the natives stress. "Seven criminal offenses were committed in the town of Kamenyuki in 2002, whereas the first quarter of 2003 saw nine offenses, with six of them perpetrated by the above people," according to the letter.
The petition, which carries the signatures of 191 Kamenyuki residents, has been delivered to 20 addressees including the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers, the Brest Region Executive Committee, the Prosecutor General, the Constitutional Court, the State Control Committee, the presidential property management department, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, and a number of foreign embassies.
The renovation of the Brest Fortress Memorial should be completed by 2004, when the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders will be observed, Aleksandr Lukashenko said on June 19, while inspecting the World War II memorial.
However, it is still unclear where the necessary $2 million will be received from. A total of $2 million has been provided by Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Moldova for the renovation since 1996. The money allowed the administration to mothball the monument "Zhazhda"
(Thirst), renovate the Square of Ceremonials and the Bayonet Obelisk, build three boiler stations, clean a bypass, and turn barracks into an art museum. However, funds so far have not been made available for the renovation of the monument "Muzhestvo" (Courage) and the fortress' gate, the ruins of the White Palace, the Brest Fortress Defense Museum, and bridges. The four million Russian rubles that has been earmarked in the Belarusian-Russian Union State's 2003 budget, is not enough, the memorial's director says.
The Belarusian leader stressed that the renovation of the memorial hould be a "common cause" not only a Belarusian-Russian affair. The head of state laid flowers at the Eternal Fire and visited an art museum housed by military barracks.
The Brest region's top officials reported to Mr. Lukashenko on their effort to raise the population's living standards and on the results of research into the housing needs of the Great Patriotic War veterans.
Ideya, a private company in Brest, has bought the 19th century gunpowder depot in the Kovalyovo neighborhood intending to convert it into a shopping center reminiscent of the ancient wooden town of Byarestse.
It intends to build 90 wooden shops and pave the lanes with wood. The company plans to open food counters within the next four months. More distant plans include a parking lot for 250 vehicles, a cafe and a brewery.
Aleksandr Lukashenko is expected to visit the Brest Fortress Memorial on June 19 to discuss the funding of its renovation and the organization of festivities on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders, which will be observed in 2004.
In order to complete the renovation, the administration of the memorial needs $2 million, Valery Gubarenko, the memorial's director, said in an interview with BelaPAN. A total of $2 million has been provided by Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Moldova for the renovation since 1996. Ukraine delivered $175,000 worth of granite. The money allowed the administration to mothball the monument "Zhazhda" (Thirst), renovate Square of Ceremonials, the Bayonet Obelisk, build three boiler stations, clean a bypass and turn barracks into an art museum. However, Mr. Gubarenko noted, funds so far have not been made available for the reconstruction of the monument "Muzhestvo" (Courage) and the fortress' gate, the ruins of the White Palace, the Brest Fortress Defense Museum, and bridges. Over 4 million Russian rubles, given out of the Belarusian-Russian Union State's budget in 2003, was not enough, the director said.
Mr. Gubarenko noted that he would like more former USSR republics and sponsors to donate money for the preservation of the memorial.
On June 22, the Brest Fortress Memorial is to host events commemorating the 62nd anniversary of Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union.
A foundation and a basement of a building that dates back to the 17th century were discovered by archeologists at Merechovshchina, Ivatsevichi district, where the estate of Belarusian-born hero Thaddeus Kosciusko was located.
The excavations are the first stage of the Brest regional government's efforts to rebuild the estate and establish a museum there. The authorities expect the museum to attract tourists. In addition, the regional government plans to raise funds for the reconstruction of a palace in the adjacent town of Kossovo and the building of a tourist complex there in the period between 2005 and 2012.
Thaddeus Kosciusko (Pol. Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Bel. Tadevush Kastsyushka), born on February 4, 1746, fought against the British in the American Revolutionary army, then returned to his homeland to
lead a 1794 uprising for Polish independence. A defeat from the united forces of Austria, Prussia and Russia was followed by years in Russian captivity. Pardoned by Emperor Paul I of Russia, Kosciusko spent his last years in exile and died in Switzerland in 1817. Kosciusko rests at the castle of Polish kings in Krakow. His heart is kept at the royal palace in Warsaw.
A 47-year-old man was crushed to death by an elevator in an apartment house in Brest. The man's body was discovered by his neighbors. Forensic experts established that the death was caused by massive head and body injuries. The prosecutor's office and experts with an elevator maintenance service are investigating the accident. The elevator is believed to have started moving as the man was walking in and the gate was still open. The elevator had always been in bad condition, as it used to automatically start moving or suddenly stop, said to the house's residents.
24 June 2003