The formation of the Vitebsk region budget for 2023 was the focus of a joint meeting of the standing commissions of the regional Council of Deputies – on social sphere, social protection of citizens and youth affairs, and on local self-government and regulations.
Social Sphere is a Priority
In the Sharkovshchyna district, the reconstruction of the Aleksandrovsky psychoneurological boarding house is planned.
Reporting on the implementation of the main development parameters of the region in the social sphere in the outgoing year and the tasks for 2023, the Head of the Planning and Economic Department of the Committee for Labour, Employment and Social Protection of the Regional Executive Committee, Oksana Baranova, noted that the sector's financing is carried out within the framework of state programs and non-program expenditures.
In the Vitebsk region, there are 15 boarding houses for the elderly and disabled, and 25 territorial centers for social services. 95.1 million rubles have been allocated for their maintenance this year. In particular, in the Orsha district, the capital repair of residential buildings has been completed, and the repair of the utility building in the Babinichsky psychoneurological boarding house is ongoing. In the Orsha boarding house, current repairs of residential premises have been carried out, and in the Yakovlevichsky boarding house, door units have been replaced.
Of the 162.3 million rubles provided for in the draft budget for 2023 under the "Social Policy" section, 59.3 million are planned for the maintenance of boarding houses, and 51.3 million rubles for territorial centers for social services.
In the Sharkovshchyna district, the reconstruction of the Aleksandrovsky psychoneurological boarding house with the construction of a residential building is planned. The facility is included in the national infrastructure plan of the Republic of Belarus and the investment program of the Vitebsk region. Taking into account the compliance with the normative deadlines for the work, the financing of the reconstruction amounts to 12 million 800 thousand rubles.
In total, for the maintenance of the region's boarding houses, an additional approximately 4.7 million rubles are needed in addition to the funds provided for in the draft budget.
A rehabilitation and labor workshop has been opened at the day care unit for disabled people in Gorodok. The Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies, Vladimir Terentyev, cited the Gorodok territorial center for social services as an example, the repair of which was carried out by the center's employees themselves, which is many times cheaper. In aid of man impressive detachment of volunteers from the regional organization of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union can also be mobilized.
For Healthy Cities and Towns
Polotsk has begun designing the construction of a polyclinic, and polyclinic No. 5 in Vitebsk will move to a renovated buildingVitebsk region has a multi-level system of providing medical care, said Mikhail Vishnevetsky, Head of the Main Department for Healthcare of the Regional Executive Committee. The state program "People's Health and Demographic Security" for 2021–2025 is being implemented. In particular, the coverage of the population with general practitioner medical care is 87.2 percent.
The restructuring and re-equipment of the ambulance service are ongoing. This year, an inter-district ambulance service center began operating in Orsha. Work has been organized to provide specialized medical care for acute coronary syndrome and acute cerebrovascular accident in Orsha and Novopolotsk.
In total, 33 inter-district medical departments and offices operate in the region. Mobile medical complexes operate on the basis of the Sharkovshchina and Glubokoye central district hospitals.
For 11 months of 2022, 52.9 million rubles were allocated for the construction, reconstruction, modernization, and repair of healthcare facilities, and 1091 units of medical equipment worth 22 million rubles were purchased. In Vitebsk, the regional clinical specialized center began operating in a renovated building at 90a Maksim Gorky Street. The reconstruction of the Vitebsk Regional Clinical Specialized Center and the Senno Central District Hospital, as well as the capital repair of the ambulance department and the pediatric department of the Liozno Central District Hospital, have been completed.
The construction of a polyclinic in the new microdistrict of Orsha is underway, and repairs are being carried out in the Dokshitsy, Ushachi, Miory, and Liozno central district hospitals. The design of the polyclinic construction in Polotsk has begun. Next year, city polyclinic No. 5 is scheduled to move to a renovated building on Kommunisticheskaya Street in Vitebsk. Currently, this medical institution, which serves about 30,000 people, occupies two buildings located at a significant distance from each other – on Gagarin Street and General Lyudnikov Avenue. Patients have to seek help from narrow specialists in other medical institutions. As part of the implementation of the program for the development of the Orsha district for the period up to 2023, the facility was commissioned.tion of the electronic system "Smart Polyclinic" complex of equipment in Orsha City Polyclinic No. 3, and the informatisation of the Orsha Inter-district Ambulance Service Centre has been carried out. Among the tasks for 2023 facing the healthcare sector of the Vitebsk region are ensuring the prevention and control of infectious and non-infectious diseases, and expanding the network of settlements where the state preventive project "Healthy Cities and Towns" is being implemented.
Not by bread alone
This year, over 14 million roubles have been allocated for repair work and strengthening the material and technical base of cultural institutions. There are 853 cultural institutions operating. Over 3,000 creative groups are actively working, 579 of which have the titles of People's and Exemplary. Annually, 12 international, 4 republican, and over 20 regional festivals and competitions are held in the region. In total, over 90,000 cultural events take place throughout the year. More than 200 students from educational institutions in the region's cultural sector have become winners of international, republican, and regional competitions and festivals. This was announced by Petr Podgursky, Head of the Culture Department of the Regional Executive Committee. This year, over 14 million roubles have been allocated for repair work and strengthening the material and technical base of cultural institutions. In particular, the construction of the memorial museum of the Hero of the Soviet Union K. S. Zaslonov in Orsha, the Palace of Culture in Baran, the reconstruction of the former House of Services building into a children's art school in the settlement of Ruba, and the restoration of a 19th-century architectural monument into a local history museum in Lepel have been completed.
Money for specific purposesThe projected revenue for the regional budget is set at 3 billion 753 million roubles. The budget for 2023 will not be able to meet all needs, noted Svetlana Zubritskaya, Deputy Head of the Main Finance Department of the Regional Executive Committee and Head of the Budget Planning Department. The formation of the budget is based on a targeted scenario of economic development, taking into account operations under sanctions pressure, changes in tax legislation, socio-economic development forecast parameters, and the execution of the current year's budget. The projected revenue for the regional budget is set at 3 billion 753 million roubles, an increase of 12.9 percent compared to the current year. Expenditures are planned within available resources. However, they will ensure funding for the most important areas.of socio-economic development and main budget commitments. Deputies of two standing commissions spoke in favour of submitting the draft socio-economic development and regional budget for 2023 for consideration by the session of the Regional Council of Deputies.
