Such optimistic reality, or Life reflected by statistics

Today it is very important to understand how our society and economy look in terms of quantity. In general, one cannot do without such information when it comes time to draw up short- and long-term plans for the country’s development. On the whole, a constant increase in the amount of information has become the trend of our time: specialists have an increasing demand for figures, which are the basis for taking the most important decisions in the field of economy, social sector and state building in general, citizens have a need to understand and analyze facts and events. Today international standards are such that it’s not enough to assess, for example, only the gross domestic product and calculate the average salary in the country — the reality requires the collection and analysis of a huge amount of data on the state and society activities.

SSo, let’s start with the results of the latest population census, conducted in 2019. There are 9 million 413 thousand of us in total, including 4 million 351 thousand men and 5 million 62 thousand women. As well as for other European countries, the issue of population aging is urgent for Belarus. The 2019 census shows that over the past 10 years, the average age of the country’s residents has increased by 1.2 years and is 40.7 years.

Representatives of 156 nationalities live in Belarus today. The most numerous are Belarusians — 84.9 percent (according to the 2009 population census — 83.7 percent), Russians, Poles and Ukrainians.

As for good trends, it is definitely worth noting that recently the number of graduates in Belarus has grown significantly. To be more precise, every fourth resident of the country today has a higher education, almost every third has a specialized secondary education. For comparison: in 2009 it was every fifth and fourth, respectively. If we consider the situation through a social cross-section, undoubtedly, the data on the marital status of Belarusians have become stable, which indicates that traditional family relations are preserved in the country. According to the results of the 2019 census, at the age of 15 and over, 62 percent of men and 53 percent of women are in a registered marriage or in unregistered relationships, almost the same numbers as in 2009 (62 percent of men and 52 percent of women). Let us ask ourselves the following question: what is the share of small and medium-sized businesses in the overall structure of the country’s economy in recent years, how intensively is it developing, in particular, in the regions? It turns out that today small businesses form about a quarter of the country’s GDP, and their share increased from 23.4 percent in 2015 to 25.6 in 2019. At the same time, small enterprises and micro-organizations form more than half of the gross added value of small and mediumsized enterprises in the country. As for the regions, there has been a stable trend of growth in the share of small businesses in the gross regional product in Minsk, Brest, Mogilev regions and the city of Minsk over the past five years.

At the end of 2019, above the national average (25.6 percent) contribution of small and medium-sized businesses to the formation of the regional economy was traditionally noted in Minsk and the Minsk region: 44 and 32.3 percent, respectively. At the same time, the most intensive growth was in the capital — additional 4.4 percent (in 2015–39.6).

Statistical indicators show that the past year was quite difficult for foreign economic activity, i.e. the problems were related to instability in the financial market, coronavirus, and so on. For these reasons, the decline in exports was inevitable, but it should be noted that the decline was at a slower pace than imports. Following the results of 11 months of the last year, the country reached a positive balance of $2 billion, which is a very good result for us. In physical terms, during this period, exports decreased by only 1.7 percent. Even in such hard times, our enterprises mostly worked not for a warehouse, but for export, which at the end of the year resulted in a decrease in finished product stock.

The latest statistics show that we are currently cooperating with more than 200 countries on export-import supplies. The geography of Belarusian exports is constantly expanding. Over the

past five years, export volumes to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, Uzbekistan, and the USA have grown.

Taking into account the conclusion of specialists and experts, export-orientated businesses have been assigned an urgent task to export in three directions in equal shares: one third to the EAEU countries, one third to the European Union and one third to other countries. Enterprises are significantly increasing their export volumes to the Asian market: to China, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Thailand. And this is despite the existing global problems.

Certainly, it is interesting to know how the coronavirus situation affected the employment of the population. According to statistics, decisions at the highest state level on prevention of the shutdown of enterprises during the pandemic have produced results. The country maintains a high level of the population employment — 67.5 percent, especially among citizens of the productive age — 83 percent.

In 2019 Belarus ranked fifth in the world for the employment level (database of the International Labor Organization), which is a fairly high result. At the same time, the employment rate of working age women is slightly higher than that of men, and having children does not interfere with career progress: among working age women-leaders, more than half have children under 18.

The average employment age is 41. Moreover, every fourth is under 30. And the youngest is the IT-technology sector, in which 40 percent of employees are under 30.

According to the status in employment, hired employees prevail in the country, a significant part of them are contract workers.

As for unemployment, in 2020 its level in Belarus, according to the methodology of the International Labor Organization, amounted to 4 percent of the labor force. A year ago, this indicator was 4.2 percent.

A Belarusian unemployed is usually a male. The average age of the unemployed is 37 years, unmarried, education is vocational training. The unemployment rate for men of working age is 4.8 percent, for women — 3.2 percent.

Is it interesting to know how much the living standards of Belarusians have changed in comparison with the previous periods? It turned out, the monetary incomes of the population, even with account of a certain rise in prices over the past five years, increased by 14.4 percent.

In 2020, according to the sampling analysis of living standards, food accounted for about 39 percent of all consumption expenditures of the average household. This is less than it used to be, for example, in 2015 it was 42 percent, while the level of consumption of basic food products changed little, if at all.

As it is commonly known, a characteristic feature of modern society is the active use of information and communication technologies by the population. So, today 71.2 percent of households have a personal computer, while in 2015 it was 63.1 percent. And 85.1 percent of people are Internet users (as compared to 67.3 in 2015).

Still, is the demographic situation in Belarus a cause for concern? Let’s start with good. According to the data of the National Statistical Committee, a positive trend has been observed recently: almost every fifth inhabitant of the country is in the age group 0–15 years. Its number has increased over 10 years by 172.6 thousand people. This indicates the effective implementation of programs aimed at improvement of the demographic situation. At the same time, today one can observe downfall in the birth of the first and second child. This is due to the decrease in the number of women of reproductive age, the intensity of childbearing, as well as the influence of the trends that are very popular in Western Europe, when young people put financial position and career progress first, and the issue of having children is postponed, therefore, the age of women giving first birth increases.

At the same time, the measures taken by the state in Belarus to support large families contribute to an increase in the birth rate among women aged 40–44. In 2019, they gave birth to almost twice as many children as in 2010, and more than 52 percent of these children were third and subsequent. Nationwide, the proportion of children born third and subsequent has increased over the past five years by almost 40 percent. You must admit that these are very optimistic statistical data. As well as the reality itself.

Aleksey Fedosov

BOOK UNITES PEOPLE AND COUNTRIES

This kind of modern thesis was amply demonstrated by the XXVIII Minsk International Book Fair, which is traditionally held in February in the Belarusian capital

2021 is the year of the 30th anniversary since the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Therefore, the Commonwealth of Independent States was declared to be the Central Exhibitor of the XXVIII Minsk International Book Fair. By the way, the Republic of Belarus presides in the CIS in this anniversary year.

It should be noted that in different years Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Kazakhstan, France, Germany, Venezuela, China, Armenia, Great Britain, Serbia, and the USA became the Central Exhibitor of Minsk Book Fair. Each country presented its book publishing in the capital of Belarus, brought new formats to the exhibition, provided a bright presentation of its country, which invariably attracted numerous visitors to the Minsk exhibition. The United States of America, for example, invited visitors to its world of books through a “roadside cafe”. The Russian Federation surprised by the abundance of creative book novelties and their presentation by famous authors, offered the visitors to try themselves in the audiobook creation. The Republic of Serbia drew attention to its stand by presentation of new books in combination with a youth subculture — graffiti. 2021 was no exception: new names, new formats, new projects awaited the book lovers.

So, the main exhibitor, i.e. the Commonwealth of Independent States, predetermined the motto of the current Minsk exhibition: “Book unites people and countries”. And its central exposition was symbolically designed in the style of a common house, which, of course, consists of rooms. The living room, for example, was the CIS exhibition area, where visitors got acquainted with those publications that won the Grand Prix of the CIS “The Art of the Book” international competition over a period of 17 years of its time frame. Besides, during the exhibition, the Commonwealth countries widely demonstrated their most striking book projects at their stands.

The tour of the exhibition central exposition was very entertaining. One of the rooms is the writer’s study-room. There the organizers presented the best books of all 11 CIS countries on history, culture and art. Interesting meetings of writers and visitors of the exhibition were held there. And this is a children’s room. Traditionally, children’s books are in great demanded with the visitors of the exhibition, as well as bookstores. This exhibition space gave the opportunity for parents with children not only to see novelty books, learn about the creation of books, but also to enjoy themselves.

And, of course, it was impossible to pass by the impromptu kitchen, which became the most “bookish part” of the central exhibition area. The maximum number of Belarusian books published in 2020 was presented there. By the way, about 8200 books were published in the country that year. Exhibition visitors had an excellent opportunity to talk with the authors of books, could

UNITES PEOPLE AND COUNTRIES

immerse themselves in the creative process of writing. On the same exhibition area, the selection of projects was held for the priority publication by state publishing house. All of them had won the literary startup LitUP launched in January. LitUp invited everyone to try their hand at lighting their creative star during the exhibition.

Minsk International Book Fair brings together dozens of countries every year. Due to the epidemiological situation in the world 2021 became special, but the organizers managed to hold exhibition events much more widely thanks to online formats. Traditionally, the international symposium “The Writer and Time” invited to its discussion platforms creative people — representatives of the writers’ communities of all CIS countries, near and far abroad, from regional centers, from Borisov, the cultural capital of Belarus in 2021. The symposium was broadcast on the youtube channel, where one could address questions directly to the participants. Their speeches at the symposium are planned to be published in electronic and printed formats.

In 2021 Belarus is rich in anniversaries of Belarusian writers, which was the reason for the presentation of a large number of book projects from Belarusian publishers, immersion of Minsk exhibition visitors in their works. Traditionally, the organizers provided the work of a poetry bus, which made it possible for everyone to get to the exhibition site and listen to the works of the authors live during the trip. In fact, the poetry bus became a real space for creativity for many writers.

On the central stage, by tradition, there were presentations of the most significant book projects, awarding of the winners of the National Competition “The Art of the Book”, as well as the winners of the international competition for young writers “Pershatsvet”.

It should be mentioned that during the XXVIII Minsk International Book Fair, Minsk theaters and cinemas, TV channels, showed films and performances based on the works of both famous Belarusian and foreign writers.

One of the objectives that the Minsk book exhibition pursues from year to year is the promotion of reading among children and adolescents.

In this regard, during the current exhibition, the Belarusian publishing house “Narodnaya Asveta” held an impromptu “sixth school day”, which was attended by many teachers and their students. Within the same event, various educational activities were held, e.g. “Continue the proverb” competition. For the smallest visitors, aged from three to seven, a drawing contest “The Most Smiling Characters” was held. The book that received the biggest number of emoticons, was raffled off on the last day of the exhibition. By the way, they did not forget about children with disabilities, having prepared interesting book gifts for them.

In general, the XXVIII Minsk International Book Fair differed from the previous ones. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic did its part. Perhaps, due to the obligation to observe anti-epidemic measures at the current exhibition, large foreign exhibitors were not widely represented. Meanwhile, the organizers had time to think over the format of the exhibition. After all, many Minskers could visit it and talk to publishers only in the evening. Therefore, the working hours were changed: every day it worked an hour longer. As a result, it became much easier to visit the exhibition. Such measures paid off. The number of those wishing to come to a meeting with a book, and in many cases with its author, markedly increased. And this, undoubtedly, was for the benefit of the entire interested audience.

Alexander Pimenov

Friendly roundtable participants

Interview of Daniyar Abidov, the Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Republic of Belarus, for journalists

Speaker — Shukhrat Sirozhiddinov, rector of Tashkent State University of the Uzbek language and literature

Dmitry Radkevich, Daniyar Abidov, Abu-Bekir Shabanovich and Vitaly Busko. Commemorative picture.

DEDICATED TO ALISHER NAVOI

A festive presentation of the unique book by Alisher Navoi “Beloved Hearts”, which was translated into Belarusian, was held at the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Thus, the 580th anniversary of the birth of the legendary educator was solemnly celebrated in Belarus. And a few days earlier, representatives of the Uzbek diaspora and the Belarusian creative community laid flowers at his monument on behalf of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Belarus.

On that February day, when the flowers were laid, the weather was not comfortable: it was snowy and frosty. But despite the weather conditions, the atmosphere at the monument to the great Uzbek thinker was like an island of warmth. The speakers were sincere, soulful. — We are glad that in Minsk, in the center of the city, there is an opportunity to get acquainted with our culture, with the monument to Alisher Navoi — a native creator both for Uzbekistan and the whole world,— said the Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Republic of Belarus Daniyar Abidov.— We appreciate that along with officials, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus the writers and Uzbek youth studying in Minsk have come here.

At this impromptu rally, the laureate of the State Prize of Belarus, poet Nikolai Metlitsky, read his translations of Alisher Navoi’s works. An Uzbek student, future dentist Mukhabaton Abdulazhanova recited one of Novoi’s classic works in the poet’s native language.

The celebration of Alisher Navoi’s anniversary turned into a broad cultural and educational program in Minsk. On February 17, the 580th anniversary of the poet’s birth was celebrated at the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States with the presentation of the book “Beloved Hearts” translated into Belarusian.

This book, written by the poet at the end of his life, is a kind of mirror of his life experience, a kind of code of honor and ethics of the younger generation.

Deputy Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee Beketzhan Zhumakhanov addressed the audience with a welcoming speech. He noted that the anniversary of Alisher Navoi, an outstanding representative of the Eastern Renaissance era, was a significant event for the entire Commonwealth, which unites countries of differ-

Dmitry Radkevich, translator of the book into Belarusian, head of the Council of Imams of Belarus

ent civilizational origins. He stressed that the CIS attached great importance to such events that act as a driving force, an essential factor in the preservation of historical memory, and promotion of spiritual heritage.

Daniyar Abidov, the Counselor of the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Republic of Belarus, spoke about the importance of the invaluable heritage of Alisher Navoi for the Uzbek people and the celebration of his anniversary. In particular, he said that in recent years, a largescale work had been carried out on the profound study of Alisher Navoi’s works. For that reason the International Public Fund named after him was set up, and in accordance with the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the 580th anniversary of the poet is widely celebrated in the country and abroad. And here it is appropriate to recall the interview of Daniyar Tajievich to our magazine “The language of war has become the language of gazelles.” In it, he called Alisher Navoi “the sun of the nation”. This is what the Turkic-speaking peoples say about the great poet, philosopher and statesman. And as we know, there is no life without the sun. Besides, we learned that Navoi was a Sufi. And the main thing for Sufis who wanted to bring up an ideal person is the search for the meaning of life… And it is also important that his works affirm the value of spiritual life.

Sergei Rachkov, Chairperson of the Standing Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus for Foreign Affairs and National Security, Shukhrat Sirozhiddinov, rector of Tashkent State University of the Uzbek language and literature, Dmitry Radkevich, translator of the book into Belarusian, head of Council of Imams of Belarus, ambassadors and permanent representatives of the CIS countries also spoke at the presentation.

In the speeches, it was emphasized that in his immortal works Alisher Navoi glorified high ideals of humanism and universal human values, making use of the enormous opportunities, wealth and beauty of his native language, therefore he firmly established himself in the hearts of millions of readers.

Poems and extracts from the works of Alisher Navoi were recited during the event, and an exhibition of books and presentation of slides dedicated to his work was organized in the lobby of the Executive Committee building. All the present received Alisher Navoi’s books as a gift.

The event was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Republic of Belarus, the Presidential Library of the Republic of Belarus, the CIS Executive Committee.

Sergey Shichko, Mikhalina Cherkashina

Anniversary business card

Exhibition of books from the funds of the Presidential Library of the Republic of Belarus

Newspaper publications about Alisher Navoi

A visual presentation dedicated to the anniversary celebrant was prepared for the festive event