The investment programme of Vitebsk region for 2024 has been approved at an extraordinary session of the Regional Council of Deputies.
The Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies, Vladimir Terentyev, emphasised that, despite it being the last working day of the year, the issue submitted for the session's consideration – the approval of the investment programme and budget adjustment – is important. Funds will be reallocated for the development of the social sphere, agriculture, and the economy. Similar activities will take place in the regions of the oblast, which will allow for a clearer outline of the development for the upcoming year.
It should be noted that on December 26, at an ordinary session of the Regional Council of Deputies, the oblast budget in the amount of 4.5 billion rubles was approved, and the main approaches to its formation were endorsed.
– The draft budget includes funds for the implementation and continuation of all state programme measures. The social orientation of the budget is maintained. In 2024, 64% of the total expenditure is planned to be directed to the social sphere, and in cities and districts, this figure reaches up to 80%, – emphasised the Head of the Main Financial Department of the Oblast Executive Committee, Gennady Grebnev.
The budget traditionally provides funds for financing all sectors of the economy that ensure the population's livelihood. These include passenger transport, maintenance and repair of roads and streets, capital repairs of housing stock, etc.
At the session, the adjusted budget was finally approved, taking into account received revenues and gratuitous receipts from the republican budget. An opportunity has been found to additionally allocate resources to support passenger transport, local road management, and agricultural producers, to whom approximately 6 million rubles have been allocated (these funds will be used for preparation for spring field work, purchase of fertilizers, and equipment repair).
Regarding major events, such as the Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia, when forming the budget's estimated indicators, the Ministry of Finance allocated an additional 65
Overall, the main source for replenishing the budget's revenue base is the stable performance of the economy and enterprises, timely and full payment of tax and non-tax dues, and increased operational efficiency. This, in turn, will lead to increased profits and corporate income tax deductions, higher wages, and increased personal income tax, emphasized Gennady Grebnev. Therefore, the joint effective work of all sectors and authorities will allow for attracting additional funds and directing them to finance activities that were not accounted for during budget approval for various reasons.
The Vitebsk region's Investment Programme for 2024 has been developed for three years, noted Alexander Nefedov, acting chairman of the regional executive committee's committee for architecture and construction, and it provides for the financing of construction of facilities, including those included in the programme in previous years.
A total of 286 facilities are planned in the programme, with 252.5 million rubles allocated for their construction.
What's new this year? For the first time, transport support facilities have been included. For example, in Vitebsk on M. Gorky Street, the track infrastructure and overhead contact system will be replaced, and design and estimate documentation for an automatic washing and treatment facility for the tram depot is being developed.
The investment programme, like the budget, has a social focus. Great attention is paid to further increasing housing construction volumes and providing residential areas with kindergartens, sports facilities, etc.
For example, 134.6 million rubles are allocated to the housing and communal services and construction sector. The construction of over 90 objects of engineering and transport infrastructure is planned for residential areas and new street gas distribution networks for the gasification of the housing stock (91.7 million rubles), 19 housing construction objects (19.8 million rubles), and 57 water supply and sewerage objects (6.3 million rubles).
More than 13 million rubles are allocated to the education sector for the completion of the construction of a kindergarten in Lepel and the reconstruction of an extension to Secondary School No. 2 named after A. Dubosarsky in Shumilino, and a dormitory on Tereshkova Street in Vitebsk. This includes funding for the reconstruction of the canteen of the Polotsk psychoneurological boarding school and the reconstruction of the Alexandrovsky boarding school for the elderly and disabled in Sharkovshchyna District (4.4 million rubles).
Furthermore, funds are allocated from the regional budget for the development of documentation and restoration of the former governor's palace in Vitebsk, the construction of a multifunctional sports complex in the regional center, and the construction of a sports and recreation complex in Polotsk.
It is planned to complete the construction of a kindergarten in Lepel, a dormitory for athletes in the urban-type settlement of Ushachi, and the ski-roller track of the Vitebsk School of Olympic Reserve. Two family-type houses will be built in Vitebsk and Postavy.
Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by