MINSK, 11 January (BelTA) – The five-day visa-free regime of entry will come into force in Belarus on 12 February 2017, BelTA learned from the Twitter account of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko’s decree No. 8 “On the introduction of the visa-free entry and departure for foreign citizens” was officially published on the National Legal Internet Portal on 11 January. The citizens of 80 countries will be able to start using its benefits...

MINSK, 5 January (BelTA) – A group of Belarusian children visited Moscow during the winter school holidays. The tour was arranged by the Belarusian Embassy in Russia. The group comprised 44 school students from the village of Perezhir and kids from families with many children, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Embassy in Russia. The three-day tour started with a visit to the embassy and a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Russia...

MINSK, 27 December (BelTA) – Belarus is ending the complicated year of 2016 rather well, BelTA learned from First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vasily Matyushevsky after the government conference held by the Belarus president on 26 December to discuss external funding. Participants of the government conference discussed some results of the national economy’s performance in 2016, including the state of the gold and foreign exchange reserves, the investment climate, the country’s...

MINSK, 21 December (BelTA) – Belarus views Georgia as one of its friends and hopes for further advancement of bilateral cooperation, Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said after the meeting with his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Janelidze on 20 December, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Vladimir Makei named the meeting a logic continuation of the contacts that the two countries have already established at the high and...

MINSK, 12 December (BelTA) – A high-level economic delegation of Belarus paid a visit to Washington D.C. on 6-10 December on the invitation of the U.S. Department of State, BelTA learned from the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The delegation comprised Deputy Head of the Belarus President’s Administration Nikolai Snopkov, Belarus President’s Aide Vsevolod Yanchevsky, representatives of the National Bank, the Finance Ministry, the Economy Ministry and other ministries and...

MINSK, 5 December (BelTA) – The One Belt, One Road initiative will secure closer interstate and interregional trade, economic and investment cooperation in different areas between all the states participating in this large-scale initiative, Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Nikolai Snopkov said in an interview with China’s leading mass media. The development of transport infrastructure is one of Belarus’ top priorities, Nikolai Snopkov said. “Belarus is ready to...

MINSK, 21 November (BelTA) – Belarus is increasingly perceived as an island of stability in the region, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with the delegation of the Political and Security Committee of the Council of the European Union on 21 November, BelTA has learned. “Belarus is increasingly perceived as an island of stability in the region. There is nothing surprising in this. Our country is the only of six member states of the Eastern Partnership initiative where...

MINSK, 14 November (BelTA) – The customs services of Belarus and Turkey agreed to simplify customs formalities with a view to reduce time spent for customs clearance on the border. The matter is envisaged in the intergovernmental agreement on the mutual trade assistance system. The document was signed by Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Belarus Yuri Senko and Turkey’s Minister of Customs and Trade Bulent Tufenkci, BelTA learned from the press service of the State Customs...

MINSK, 10 November (BelTA) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart on 9 November, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian head of state. The Presidents talked over the challenges in the Belarusian-Russian cooperation. Solutions to them have been worked out by the governments of the two countries and are expected to be approved at the next meeting of the two heads of state, which, according to the preliminary...

MINSK, 1 November (BelTA) – Belarus raised export duties on oil and oil products, which are exported outside the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union, on 1 November 2016. The relevant decision is stipulated by the Council of Ministers’ executive order No.877 of 26 October 2016, the press service of the Belarus government told BelTA. The export duty on crude oil went up from $91.9 to $92.7 to per tonne. The duty on straight-run gasoline was raised from $65.2 per tonne to...