OREANDA-NEWS. August 26, 2010. In a session of the Council of Ministers’ Presidium, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky urged the Government and local authorities to intensify the work on crearing business-friendly environment in small and medium-sized towns.

The Presidium of the Council of Ministers reviewed the current status of implementation of the Government comprehensive program to develop regions, small and medium-sized towns in H1 2010 at a session. The Government revisits this issue regularly. In March 2010 the Government examined the results of the program in 2009. Then the Government gave concrete instructions to the local authorities. However, the results of the program this year suggest that not all are fully aware of the responsibility for implementing the program, Sergei Sidorsky said.

All necessary conditions for business development have been created in the country. A lot has been made to liberalize the economy. According to the Prime Minister, the economic activity in big cities has been increasing while in small and medium-sized towns business has been developing slowly.

Addressing the heads of the oblast executive committees, Sergei Sidorsky stressed: “Today it is not enough to take advantage of common approaches only. We should go and see what hampers business development there”. Local business is stalled. However, it is obvious that in the regions of Belarus there are many active business people and they should be given an opportunity to develop their business, Sergei Sidorsky stressed.

To address these issues, Sergei Sidorsky suggested that local authorities should communicate more actively with the business community and entrepreneurs working in small and medium-sized towns, as they have first-hand experience and can give good advice regarding the regulatory framework and other business-related matters. “Talk to business and learn why cafes, restaurants, roadside service facilities, farms are not built. Perhaps, there is a need to look into what is wrong with the documents. You need to engage business in a dialogue,” said Sergei Sidorsky.