Belarus could host Olympic Games together with Russia or Ukraine, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.
“Of course, it is hard for us to compete with giants, but we can host the Olympics together with, let us say, Ukrainians or Russians,” the BelTA state news agency cited Lukashenko as saying in Brest.
Facilities for the Olympic Games are ready in Belarus, he said. “We’re going to build the national soccer stadium and a facility for water sports now, and soccer remains. Russia has the infrastructure for soccer. We can easily host the Olympics with them. And here, in Belarus, we can host mostly the Summer Olympics with the help of Russians or Ukrainians. They have facilities we’re lacking,” Lukashenko said.
Belarus hosted the Second European Games in June.
Master of sports swimmer Mykhailo Romanyshyn has said he intends to set a record by swimming the Ukrainian stretch of the Dnipro River from the Ukraine-Belarus border to the Black Sea.
“The swim starts on the border with Belarus on August 5, and the finish will be tentatively 27 to 30 days from then at the section of the river flowing into the Black Sea,” says a press release handed over to journalists.
Speaking at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine, Romanyshyn said the swim would start in the village of Strakholissya, Kyiv region, near the Belarusian border and would end in Kherson’s Glory Park. He said the tentative distance to be covered is almost 1,000 kilometers.
The swim along the Dnipro is the first stage of the project. In a year, Mykhailo Romanyshyn plans to swim to cross the Black Sea from Odesa, Ukraine, to Istanbul, Turkey.
The project will allow the formation of a charitable fund to help young gifted athletes of Ukraine and conduct environmental and biological research.
“The project pursues several goals, but first of all it is to draw attention to the environmental problems of the Dnipro, popularize sports among our citizens and create a charity fund to help children,” project organizer Maksym Urakin said.
Mykhailo Romanyshyn’s team includes honored swimming coach of Ukraine Karen Abramov. “The swim will give unique information about the human body’s response to prolonged physical activity and prolonged exposure to water. We will study how much a person can adapt to water temperature that is lower than air temperature, what can be a person’s psychological condition when the swim lasts for 12 hours a day during about a month in any weather,” Karen Abramov explained.
During the swim, Romanyshyn’s team will monitor the state of water in the Dnipro. According to the preliminary program of the swim, every day the athlete will cover about 30 km and swim for about 12 hours.
He will be accompanied by a support group that includes his coach and a special vehicle will bring food and supplies for sleepovers. A police patrol boat will accompany the swimmer.
Swimmer Mykhailo Romanyshyn added that he would like to use his example to distract children from unhealthy habits and draw their attention to sports. “For our country to continue to have Olympic champions in swimming and other sports, the efforts of both businesses and authorities are needed. Without this the population will continue to decline,” Mykhailo Romanyshyn said.
Dmytro Strizhov, a multiple participant in IRONMAN international competitions, decided to support Romanyshyn and swim with him at one of the stages of the project.
Experts representing the national register for Ukrainian records will record the accomplishment.
The next stage of the project will be a swim in the Black Sea from Odesa to Istanbul, which the team plans to implement in 2020.
The project is supported by leading Ukrainian companies that prioritize environmental issues and the development of sports: the Arterium company, the Revealing Information law firm, A-95 Consulting Group, Maxevents, and the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.
Master of sports swimmer Mykhailo Romanyshyn has said he intends to set a record by swimming the Ukrainian stretch of the Dnipro River from the Ukraine-Belarus border to the Black Sea.
“The swim starts on the border with Belarus on August 5, and the finish will be tentatively 27 to 30 days from then at the section of the river flowing into the Black Sea,” says a press release handed over to journalists.
Speaking at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine, Romanyshyn said the swim would start in the village of Strakholissya, Kyiv region, near the Belarusian border and would end in Kherson’s Glory Park. He said the tentative distance to be covered is almost 1,000 kilometers.
The swim along the Dnipro is the first stage of the project. In a year, Mykhailo Romanyshyn plans to swim to cross the Black Sea from Odesa, Ukraine, to Istanbul, Turkey.
The project will allow the formation of a charitable fund to help young gifted athletes of Ukraine and conduct environmental and biological research.
“The project pursues several goals, but first of all it is to draw attention to the environmental problems of the Dnipro, popularize sports among our citizens and create a charity fund to help children,” project organizer Maksym Urakin said.
Mykhailo Romanyshyn’s team includes honored swimming coach of Ukraine Karen Abramov. “The swim will give unique information about the human body’s response to prolonged physical activity and prolonged exposure to water. We will study how much a person can adapt to water temperature that is lower than air temperature, what can be a person’s psychological condition when the swim lasts for 12 hours a day during about a month in any weather,” Karen Abramov explained.
During the swim, Romanyshyn’s team will monitor the state of water in the Dnipro. According to the preliminary program of the swim, every day the athlete will cover about 30 km and swim for about 12 hours.
He will be accompanied by a support group that includes his coach and a special vehicle will bring food and supplies for sleepovers. A police patrol boat will accompany the swimmer.
Swimmer Mykhailo Romanyshyn added that he would like to use his example to distract children from unhealthy habits and draw their attention to sports. “For our country to continue to have Olympic champions in swimming and other sports, the efforts of both businesses and authorities are needed. Without this the population will continue to decline,” Mykhailo Romanyshyn said.
Dmytro Strizhov, a multiple participant in IRONMAN international competitions, decided to support Romanyshyn and swim with him at one of the stages of the project.
Experts representing the national register for Ukrainian records will record the accomplishment.
The next stage of the project will be a swim in the Black Sea from Odesa to Istanbul, which the team plans to implement in 2020.
The project is supported by leading Ukrainian companies that prioritize environmental issues and the development of sports: the Arterium company, the Revealing Information law firm, A-95 Consulting Group, Maxevents, and the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.
Ukrzaliznytsia jointly with Belarusian and Lithuanian railways has launched the Containerships Train new regular container train running across Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine.
Ukrzaliznytsia Board Chairman Yevhen Kravtsov wrote on his Facebook page that the train will run between Draugyste (Lithuania) and Brovary (Ukraine) twice a week.
“Last year can be called a “container boom” in Ukrzaliznytsia. The Containerships Train is our 22nd container train running in Ukraine. Competitive delivery speed regardless of weather conditions, regular trips, the understandable schedule. Add to this the decrease in logistics costs on average by 25%. The benefits are undeniable,” he said.
The head of Ukrzaliznytsia said that as part of the first Containerships Train with 65 containers will arrive at the Brovary station in 50 hours. The company plans to organize container transportation to the Odesa seaport.
“Draugyste is located near the port of Klaipeda. So this autumn we are planning another route – to the Odesa seaport. Considering the reorientation of domestic exports to the EU countries and the increase in cargoes addressed to seaports, container shipping will be useful,” Kravtsov said.
Belarus will raise duties on oil and oil products exported outside the Eurasian Economic Union’s customs territory on May 1. The sizes of the duties were confirmed by Government Resolution No. 262 of April 25, which has been published on the National Legal Internet Portal. Under the document, the duty on crude oil will grow from $97.40 to $104.60 per tonne, that on straight-run gasoline will rise from $53.50 to $57.50 per tonne, and that on commercial gasoline will grow from $29.20 to $31.30 per tonne.
The duty on light and medium distillates will rise from $29.20 to $31.30 per tonne. The same rate will apply to diesel, benzene, toluene, xylol, and lubricants and other oils.
Belarus last raised export duties on oil and oil products on April 1. Belarus has been aligning its export duties on oil and oil products with Russia’s since 2010 in light of its duty-free imports of oil from Russia. In accordance with EAEU agreements, all export duties on oil and oil products have remained in the Belarusian budget since 2015.
Ukrainian and Belarusian diplomats have agreed to facilitate preparations for the second Forum of Regions to be held in Zhytomyr in October 2019. Such an agreement was reached during political consultations between Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Andrei Yeudachenka, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
In addition, an agreement was reached on preparing for signing the plan of consultations between the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Belarus for 2020-2021.
As reported, the first Forum of Regions of Ukraine and Belarus was held in Gomel on October 26, 2018. It was attended by the presidents of the countries, Petro Poroshenko and Alexander Lukashenko. They decided to hold the second forum in Zhytomyr.