PRIORITIES
BIG LIFE OF A SMALL TOWN Belarus is a country of small towns. One and a half hundred urban settlements out of two hundred existing have less than twenty thousand inhabitants. Each town has its own history, unique appearance, special destiny. Some of them, such as Turov, Zaslavl or Kamenets, count their biography from the times of Kievan Rus. Others — Novolukoml, Beloozersk, Kostyukovka, formed on the basis of industrial and energy enterprises, are not yet a century old.
Today, small towns are home to about three million people. The well-being of almost a third of the country’s population depends on the economic, social and cultural well-being of these settlements. It is no coincidence that the development of small and medium settlements in Belarus has been declared a top priority. At one time, it was enshrined in the State Comprehensive Program for the Development of Regions, Small and Medium Settlements. The program covered 187 settlements. The implementation of thousands of investment projects (including two hundred of the most important), the creation of tens of thousands of jobs, the reduction of the unemployment rate — the measures enshrined in the Presidential Decree should significantly improve the quality of life in small towns and unleash their economic potential. Yes, a big city has great opportunities, a small city has little. Residents of large cities — Minsk, regional centers — have always been in more favorable conditions compared to the owners of registration in towns or regional center. Not only in terms of access to theaters or libraries,
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БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021
but above all in terms of earning opportunities and job search. Not all city-forming enterprises, which were the main breadwinners of the province’s residents during the planned economy, were able to adapt to market conditions. Many plants and factories have reduced production volumes, and some have closed. Life in some settlements began to fade… Residents of the village of Elizovo, Osipovichi district, are well aware of such realities. Twenty years ago, the oldest glass factory in the country, where most of the local population worked, stopped. There was no other work here. Ever ything changed w h e n a n i nv e s t o r came to the company. Large funds were immediately invested in the modernization of the plant. Old machines have been replaced by modern equipment from European firms. Today, the enterprise produces dozens of types of glass bottles and jars of various shapes, containers, colors. The plant not only fully meets the needs of the domestic market for
