Events

New Belarusian senate speaker elected

MINSK, 6 December (BelTA) – Natalya Kochanova has been elected chairwoman of the seventh-convocation Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, BelTA has learned.

As many as 59 out of the 60 senators, who took part in the ballot, cast their votes in favor of Natalya Kochanova.

Natalya Kochanova thanked members of the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament for their trust in her. She assured them she would do everything necessary to ensure effective operation of the Council of the Republic.

Talking to reporters later on, the new speaker remarked that interaction with voters will remain one of the key areas in the work of the Council of the Republic. “The problems people are worried about will be of current interest for us as well. We will look into them,” she stressed.

Apart from that, the newly elected upper chamber of the parliament will continue advancing cooperation on international parliamentary platforms.

Previously suggesting Natalya Kochanova as a candidate, the senator Dmitry Demidov mentioned her professionalism and accomplishments in executive jobs. He stressed that the speaker of the Council of the Republic needs authority, experience, and systemic statesmanlike thinking.

Natalya Kochanova was born in Polotsk, Vitebsk Oblast in 1960. She graduated from the Novopolotsk Polytechnic Institute in 1982 and from the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Belarus in 2006.

In 1982-2007 Natalya Kochanova worked for the Polotsk city water supply company Vodokanal and the Polotsk city utilities company. She oversaw the sphere of housing and utilities in various positions in the Polotsk City Executive Committee.

In 2007-2014 Natalya Kochanova was the head of the Novopolotsk city administration. She worked as a deputy prime minister of Belarus in 2014-2016.

She became the head of the Belarus President Administration in December 2016.

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