Opinions & Interviews

Belarusian PM urges to elaborate satellite town phased development strategies

SMOLEVICHI DISTRICT, 10 March (BelTA) - For the successful development of the satellite towns of Minsk, we need to determine the prospects, to think out the phased development of each of them, and to ensure simultaneous construction of residential areas and infrastructure, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said as he addressed a meeting in the Smolevichi District Executive Committee to discuss the development of the satellite towns, BelTA has learned.

The head of government recalled that the volume of housing construction will be gradually scaled down in Minsk and increased in its satellite towns. There are six of them: Smolevichi, Rudensk, Dzerzhinsk, Fanipol, Zaslavl and Logoisk. Active phase of construction is now in progress in Smolevichi. Next in line is Rudensk. "Objectively, there are not enough construction and financial resources to develop all these territories simultaneously. Therefore, we need to determine the prospects and plan the phased development of each of these towns defined by the president as satellite towns of the capital city," Roman Golovchenko concluded.

He noted that a lot has already been done: a legal framework has been developed, general layout plans have been approved. Work is underway to update the plans for detailed development of these territories.

In 2019, the head of state signed a decree to define the procedures for re-assigning the waiting lists from Minsk to Smolevichi and providing state assistance for housing construction projects. The procedure for transferring the financial resources from the Minsk budget to finance social, engineering and transport infrastructure facilities has been regulated too.

The head of government got familiar with the status of the Smolevichi Satellite Town project implemented in the Severo-Zapad neighborhood. Last year, as part of the satellite towns development program, the first apartment building was commissioned in Smolevichi, three more are under construction.

“Taking into account that Minsk has the most people in need of better housing (about 180,000 people on the waiting list), it is clear that such a pace is not enough,” Roman Golovchenko stressed. “Therefore, we need to apply a comprehensive approach to the  development of the comfortable living environment in the satellite towns and step up work on necessary infrastructure in the residential areas. It is also important to provide a fast and comfortable transport service with the capital city.”

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks