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A field meeting of the Council for Interaction of Local Self-Government Bodies under the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus was held at the Glubokoe District Executive Committee. The main item on the agenda was the discussion of problems related to the construction of infrastructure and housing in settlements with a population of less than 20,000 people.
Opening the meeting, Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Natalya Kochanova noted:
- Strong regions mean a strong country. This is the path we will follow. Unfortunately, the potential of rural regions and small towns is not fully utilized. Our task is to collectively develop approaches and identify key directions for implementing this strategy.
Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Alexander Subbotin delivered a report on housing construction in the Vitebsk region in 2024:
- Last year, 538 apartments for large families, 1339 rental apartments, and over 20 apartments for orphans and children left without parental care were built in the region. The same trend continues this year. The Council of Ministers has set a task to commission 20% more housing than in previous years and to provide housing for 480 large families.
At the meeting, Minister of Architecture and Construction Ruslan Parhamovich spoke about problematic issues in the construction of housing and infrastructure in rural settlements and measures to address them; Minister of Labor and Social Protection Nataliya Pavlyuchenko spoke about rental housing as a mechanism for retaining social sector workers; and Chairman of the Glubokoe District Executive Committee Alexander Shubsky spoke about the impact of infrastructure construction on urban development.
Minister of Architecture Ruslan Parhamovich:
- The largest number of rural settlements are in the Vitebsk region. Over the past 5 years, the population has decreased by 8.5%. Among the measures to retain staff, it is proposed to return to the system of departmental housing with the right of purchase by the employee after a certain period of service, preferential lending of 90%, and for a certain category, 100% of the cost per square meter, and to expand state support for housing construction in rural areas.
Chairman of the Standing Commission on Regional Policy and Local Self-Government of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Leonid Zayats, acquainted the attendees with the draft Work Plan for interaction of local self-government bodies under the Council of the Republic for 2025 and the establishment of a working group to prepare the next meeting of the Council for the interaction of local self-government bodies.
Natalia Kochanova presented a Letter of Gratitude from the Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus to Valery Mazovka, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the production and construction closed joint-stock company "TREST PROMSTROY".