Cherven Regional Executive Committee

The consular department of the Belarusian embassy in Poland is mulling over an opportunity to introduce additional buses from Warsaw to Brest and Grodno, the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Facebook, BelTA has learned.

The buses will be run by Teambus Travel on 18-24 March. The service will be launched given there are enough people eager to return home, the ministry said.

To make use of the service, it is needed to send your personal data (name and surname written as in the passport, and a telephone number) and your final destination “Brest” or “Grodno” to the email of the consular department This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., marked as “Going to Belarus”.

The expected time of departure from Warsaw – 12.00. The buses will depart from the Palace of Culture and Science.

Belarus will undertake all necessary measures to help its nationals return home amid the ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus, BelTA learned from spokeswoman of the Belarusian prime minister Aleksandra Isayeva.

“Belarus will undertake all necessary measures so that Belarusians who want to come home could do this,” Aleksandra Isayeva said.

In her words, on 15 March Russia informed Belarus on its plans to impose additional measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The countries agreed to coordinate their further actions.

As BelTA reported earlier, Belarus' Prime Minister Sergei Rumas and Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin held a telephone conversation on 15 March. Mikhail Mishustin informed Sergei Rumas on the measures undertaken in Russia to curb the virus' spread. The parties also discussed the transit of people and cargo amidst the COVID-19 epidemic.

From March 28 to April 4, the republican voluntary action “Forest Week” will be held for the thirteenth time in Minsk Oblast, the press service of the Ministry of Forestry reports.

The action will be dedicated to the Year of the Small Motherland and is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory. And its main goal is to attract public attention to the need for careful attitude to the forest.

During this event, participants will be engaged in forest planting, cleanliness in forests and restoration of places of mass recreation.

Anyone can join the "Forest Week". To do this, contact the nearest leshoz or forestry. Forestry institutions will provide all the necessary equipment and planting material, and will also show objects in need of restoration.

By the way, the initiator of the action is the Ministry of Forestry.

A child having a severe pneumonia has been saved with the help of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine. That was the first time in Belarus the ECMO machine helped save a pneumonia patient, Konstantin Drozdovsky, Director of the National Research Center for Pediatric Surgery, told reporters, BelTA has learned.

“On 21 February Minsk Children's Infectious Diseases Hospital asked us to save a child who had an acute respiratory infection and a viral pneumonia. The patient was in critical condition and was connected to the ECMO machine. The ECMO machine is similar to a heart-lung by-pass machine. By that time the child hardly breathed and would have died without extracorporeal membrane oxygenation,” Konstantin Drozdovsky said.

This machine pumped and oxygenated the patient's blood for seven days. “When the infection was gone, the child started breathing. Seven days later we disconnected the ECMO machine and in another five days the patient no longer needed pulmonary ventilation. The patient's body functions were supported for another 5-7 days. At present the child is recovering. The child breathes, eats and feels better. It was the first time such an intervention was done on a 3.5-year old child with a pneumonia that could kill the child. Thus, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation helped save the child's life,” the doctor said.

This technology became available at the National Research Center for Pediatric Surgery several years ago. “We have two ECMO machines. In the coming two weeks we will receive another two. These machines were purchased for our hospital by the Healthcare Ministry. This will allow establishing a so-called ECMO center at our clinic. Thus, we will be able to save all children with a severe pneumonia that cannot be treated by other methods,” Konstantin Drozdovsky said.

The State Border Committee of Belarus and UNICEF have agreed to cooperate. The Belarusian agency and the international organization will soon sign the appropriate memorandum, BelTA learned from the press service of the State Border Committee.

Chairman of the State Border Committee Anatoly Lappo and UNICEF representative to Belarus Rashed Mustafa Sarwar held a working meeting on 10 March. The parties discussed the situation on the Belarusian border in 2019, irregular migration and prospects of international technical assistance projects.

Anatoly Lappo focused the attention on the situation with the illegal border crossing by migrants with children. “In such cases we create favorable conditions for mothers with children. They are accommodated in medical points of military units, where they receive necessary medical and psychological care. We have been actively cooperating with international organizations that provide humanitarian assistance to such families whenever possible,” Anatoly Lappo said.

Rashed Mustafa Sarwar said UNICEF is interested in developing cooperation with the State Border Committee. “Children should see the border as open and friendly. In the near future we will sign a memorandum on cooperation and start working on topics that meet the interests of our organizations,” he said.

The State Border Committee, in turn, is ready to support the initiative of UNICEF to promote a unique image project, Borders Open to Children. According to the chairman, border guards are interested in developing infrastructure for children at checkpoints, border posts and centers for foreign nationals.

A new house for 192 apartments for residents of the capital is already being built in Smolevichi. They plan to hand it over in the summer.

The infrastructure is developing in this city. The first shopping center is already ready for operation. The issue of clinics, kindergartens and schools is being addressed. Also, from the Mound of Glory towards Smolevichy, there is a reconstruction of the first section of the R-53 highway. Note, the road from Minsk through Smolevichy, Zhodino to Borisov will be made concrete and four-lane.

In addition, the leadership of Minsk Oblast offers the city of Minsk to develop a plot in Rudensk with an area of 73 hectares.

It is too early to assess the full impact of the sharp decline in oil prices and the devaluation of the Russian ruble, Belarus Prime Minister Sergei Rumas told BelTA while commenting on the situation in the markets and how it may affect Belarus.

“I think it is not yet possible to assess the full impact of the devaluation of the Russian ruble and the sharp decline in oil prices. We will see how the situation will be developing. The Russians issued a statement that the Finance Ministry will be selling foreign currency. It is an extraordinary decision. The first few days of this week will show how the situation with the Russian ruble will be developing. Our National Bank will build its strategy accordingly,” the prime minister said.

“In any case, the National Bank will be following the market trends and will not artificially restrain the Belarusian ruble,” Sergei Rumas said.

Asked whether any reserves would be used, the head of government said: "If the National Bank is guided by the market trends in supply and demand, this will not lead to excessive spending of the gold and foreign exchange reserves. That is its strategy.”

Sergei Rumas also answered the question what pros or cons the fall in oil prices carry for Belarus. “It is now an additional opportunity to reach an agreement with the Russian Federation. The current situation is very different from the situation in December or January," he said.

The prime minister confirmed that this has an equal impact on the negotiations with other oil suppliers.

BelTA quoted TASS as saying that the cost of futures for Brent crude oil with settlement in May 2020 on the ICE Exchange in London fell by 42.6% to $31.74 per barrel. The cost of the April futures contract for WTI crude oil fell by 48.9% to $ 27.72 per barrel. According to Bloomberg, Brent futures suffered the second-largest decline on record in the opening seconds of trading in Asia, behind only the plunge during the Gulf War in 1991.

Oil price is falling amid news that OPEC+ countries failed to agree on an additional reduction in oil production amid falling demand due to coronavirus. OPEC proposed to further reduce production by 1.5 million barrels per day until the end of this year. However, Russia and Kazakhstan opposed this proposal. Russia, in particular, insisted on the extension of the current agreements only for the second quarter.

The world stock markets have already responded to a sharp drop in the cost of oil. Thus, the futures on the S&P 500 that include 500 biggest companies on the U.S. market are down 145.10 points (4.90%). Dow Jones futures plunged 1,245 points (4.85%). Nasdaq futures tumbled 410 points (4.82%).

The sharp decline in world oil prices caused a mass sale of shares in Asian stock markets. At the start of trading Hong Kong index Hang Seng lost more than 1,000 points, or almost 3.9%. Trading on the stock markets of China, Japan, Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Thailand is also in the negative. In Hong Kong, shares of Chinese giant Petrochina have fallen by almost 10%. The securities of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) depreciated by 17%.

The situation on the oil market is affecting the exchange rate of the Russian ruble. The rate of the the Russian ruble to U.S. dollar at the international market Forex reached RUB73.47 on Monday. The rate of the the Russian ruble to the euro went up to RUB83.77.

Culture plays a special role in promoting relations between Belarus and Oman, Belarusian Culture Minister Yuri Bondar said. He led the official delegation at the Days of Belarusian Culture in Oman, BelTA has learned.

“We cooperate across many areas and I am really happy that cultural ties play a special role in building good relations between our countries. Our cultures have more in common than it might seem. Preservation and active promotion of spiritual, historical and cultural heritage and traditions and determination to preserve one's national identity – these are common goals for us,” Yuri Bondar said.

The minister noted that the program of the Days of Belarusian Culture in Oman is packed with events. “This year it features the Khoroshki dance ensemble, the exhibition project “Patterns and Symbols: Legacy of the Belarusian Ornament” from the holdings of the National History Museum and a presentation of Belarus' tourism industry. We are glad that the Belarusian Business Week in Oman was co-located with the Days of Belarusian Culture. I am confident that we have many interesting and really useful joint projects and events ahead,” the minister added.

The Days of Belarusian Culture in Oman will wrap up on 6 March. The opening ceremony took place in the Royal Opera House Muscat on 4 March. The dance company offered the acts of its golden fund based on rich folklore materials and the Belarusian history.

The diplomatic relations between Belarus and the Sultanate of Oman were established on 23 July 1992.

A detailed map of Minsk and Minsk Oblast has been published on the georesource of remote Earth probing data, BelTA learned from the website of Belarus' State Property Committee.

The Belarusian aerial phototopography enterprise BelPSHAGI took ortho-photos of Minsk and adjacent areas, including the Sokol suburb and the Minsk National Airport district in September 2019 with a view to creating the land information system of Minsk.

The system, which was commissioned by the State Property Committee, is designed to improve the efficiency of land management, accounting and control in Minsk.

The total area of the footage is approximately 1,000km2. The spatial resolution of photos is 15 centimeters in one pixel.

The fourth coronavirus case was confirmed in Belarus on 3 March, BelTA learned from the press service of the Healthcare Ministry.

“The National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology is busy processing the test results of people who are under medical surveillance. Today one of the tests of a Belarusian national came back positive, it showed coronavirus RNA. This person had been quarantined because of exposure to one of the patients diagnosed with coronavirus,” the press service informed.

Thus, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to four in Belarus. Another two persons also tested positive, but their tests will be double checked in line the WHO protocols. The findings of these tests will be announced later. All the people who are under medical supervision feel good, including the patients who contracted the virus.

“Taking into consideration that their initial tests came back negative, we can assume that the patients had been isolated before the virus became contagious, which means these people could not pass the infection,” the press service informed.

All in all, by now the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology has conducted more than 5,000 swab tests.