News & Events in Belarus

MINSK, 28 December (BelTA) – Belarus Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov presented awards to distinguished Belarusians on the instructions of the head of state on 28 December, BelTA has learned.

The list of the awardees featured about 140 people. These were social workers, doctors, teachers, scientists, industry, forestry workers, farmers, construction and oil production workers, representatives of the tax authorities, civil servants, and intellectuals. They were honored with high awards for many years of fruitful work, exemplary performance, and high professionalism.

Among the awardees were a lot of medical workers. Andrei Kobyakov noted that the national medicine achieved good results. “The World Health Organization noted that healthcare in Belarus reached the millennium development goals in such areas as reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis. In 2016, the WHO noted Belarus as the first and only state in Europe that completely eliminated the problem of the transmission of HIV and other diseases from mother to child,” Andrei Kobyakov said.

High awards were conferred on representatives of culture. The Prime Minister recalled that many important cultural events were held this year. 2016 was declared the Year of Culture. The country adopted the world's first Culture Code and the state program “Culture of Belarus” for 2016-2020. Many socially significant actions and cultural activities got a wide response at the international level. Those were the artistic marathon “Revival” ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident in Yelsk involving the Belarusian head of state, and the exhibition of Belarusian icons of the 17th-18th centuries in the Vatican.

“Certain steps were made to encourage culture workers to become more proactive. Additional conditions were created for self-realization and professional growth,” Andrei Kobyakov said.

Among the awardees there was a large group of workers of Minsk Tractor Plant (MTZ trademark). In 2016 the plant celebrated the 70th anniversary since founding. This year MTZ unveiled Belarus 4522, one of the world’s most powerful wheeled tractors meeting the latest trends in the world tractor construction.

High awards were presented to agricultural workers. “As a whole, good results were achieved in the production of virtually all agricultural products. Grain harvest was cleared from the fields and stocked; the country's food security was ensured,” the Prime Minister said.

He also commended the representatives of the forest industry for hard work. “Thanks to the rational management, systematic efforts to rehabilitate woodland, its area increases from year to year. The quality of timber gets better, new woodworking enterprises are set up and the existing facilities are upgraded,” Andrei Kobyakov stressed.

The Prime Minister wished everybody happiness, health, well-being and new achievements in their work. “May the coming year be kind and generous to you and make your dreams come true. As English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton put it ‘A heart without dreams is like the earth without atmosphere’,” Andrei Kobyakov summed up.