Orsha District can become an example of how economy should be relaunched in the entire country, BelTA learned from First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vasily Matyushevsky during a working meeting in the Orsha District Executive Committee on 4 May.

The official said: "We have good chances of submitting proposals on restarting the economy using Vitebsk Oblast and specifically its Orsha branch as an example. This experience can be spread onto the rest of the country later on. Today we have to form the agenda, clearly formulate all the systemic questions and proposals backed by arguments. For instance, as far as property management is concerned, a different procedure seems to be in order. The owner or the company should be able to make decisions. Enterprises run by central government agencies will be better off if they are owned by municipal authorities because things are clearer when you look at them up close and personal instead of from Minsk. I see no problem with it. Then we will launch the entire cycle of property management."

During the meeting Vitebsk Oblast Governor Nikolai Sherstnev drew attention to the heavy taxes on land and real estate, which make business operation difficult, to the development of the Orsha bakery, agricultural services, the debts the local companies owe to energy providers, to penalties, and to the fact that Belarus president decree No.6 does not apply to Orsha but only to other small populated localities such as Baran and Bolbasovo. The head of the Vitebsk Oblast administration believes it is necessary to focus on developing the manufacturing enterprises that use locally available raw materials. However, laws on allocating forest lands need to be amended in order to fix the state of affairs in the woodworking industry. In turn, Vasily Matyushevsky noted that parameters of the state budget for 2018-2020 are being discussed now. "Get involved. It is an open process. Feel free to submit your own proposals," he added.

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