On January 30, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Br36.5 billion will be allocated for the implementation of the State Employment Assistance Programme in the Vitebsk region in 2012, the Committee for Labour, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee informed a BELTA correspondent. During the current year, it is planned to assist 33,000 citizens in finding employment in the region, including 21,000 unemployed. It is planned to direct 3.3 thousand people to training and retraining, and to organise paid public works for 13.5 thousand residents. During the period of active job searching, comprehensive social support will be provided to the unemployed in the form of unemployment benefits, scholarships, compensation payments, and material assistance. The total amount of such payments will be about Br6.3 billion. Work on resettling families with unemployed members to rural areas will also continue. A total of 100 such families are planned to be resettled this year. Further development will be given to assisting the unemployed in organising entrepreneurial activities by providing subsidies. In 2012, 550 citizens will receive this assistance, with funding from the Social Protection Fund for the Population amounting to about Br4.5 billion. Special attention will be paid by the region's employment services to categories of citizens who are unable to compete on equal terms in the labour market. For them, local authorities plan to reserve over 3,000 jobs. Additional reservations will be made as needed. The implementation of all planned measures will increase the efficiency of labour resource utilisation and maintain the labour market situation in the region as stable, controlled, and manageable, the committee added. -0-

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