In Vitebsk, foresters of the region were honored
Today, the Vitebsk Regional Philharmonic Hall was awash in the green of ceremonial uniforms, as employees from all the region's forestry enterprises arrived for the celebratory event to congratulate their colleagues and receive well-deserved awards for their hard work. Traditionally, the event began with the anthems of the Republic of Belarus and the forestry industry, followed by a series of congratulations.
– It is no coincidence that we say that the forest is our national economy, as the forestry industry not only provides jobs – currently, over 6.5 thousand people work in the forestry enterprises of the Vitebsk region – but also provides employment for tens of thousands of people in related industries. Thanks to your labor, we receive export revenue, high-quality furniture, and we also know that you carefully manage the green wealth of our country, protect it, and constantly create new forest cultures, – Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies Vladimir Terentyev addressed the attendees. – There is a degree of romance in your work, but more often it is associated with hard labor. Despite difficult weather conditions and the unpredictability of nature, you, like people in uniform, must always be vigilant. On behalf of the Regional Council of Deputies and the Regional Executive Committee, I want to thank you for your difficult work and wish you health, well-being, a peaceful sky overhead, good financial results, and further prosperity for the industry.
Vladimir Terentyev presented foresters with Certificates of Honor from the Regional Executive Committee.
After that, the baton of honor was taken by the Deputy Minister of Forestry of Belarus, Vladimir Krech, who presented the Vitebsk foresters with Certificates of Honor from the Ministry of Forestry.
– This year has been challenging for the entire forestry and woodworking industry, as well as for the foresters of the Vitebsk region. In the face of unprecedented sectoral sanctions from the collective West, certain difficulties have arisen, but any problems are new opportunities. And the Vitebsk region is an example of how these opportunities can be utilized. The foresters of Vitebsk have proven themselves to be true fighters; they have restored all volumes of sawn timber produced by woodworking enterprises, not only in quantity but also in monetary terms, – noted Vladimir Krech. – The Vitebsk region has managed to preserve its teams, as well as wages, which in some places have even increased. Today, we can confidently say that the foresters have withstood the blow and are systematically beginning to develop further in various directions. As an example, this year, 15 km of forest roads will be commissioned in the Vitebsk region, and this morning we opened a new drying complex at the Polotsk forestry. This work will continue.
The Director General of the structure, Yuri Lipsky, presented Certificates of Honor of the Vitebsk State Forestry Production Association to the best foresters of the region.
He noted that serving the forest is a special calling that testifies to strength of character, fortitude, and love for beauty, as forestry workers do not shy away from challenges but honorably perform their duties, preserving and enhancing the forest wealth of their native land.
– First and foremost, we can be proud that we have preserved our teams, all jobs, and compared to last year, we have not lost a single person, and have also maintained salaries. In this difficult time, we are finding ways to expand and sell our products, generate additional revenue, and have even increased lumber sales by several percent, – noted Yuri Lipsky. – Yes, this year misfortune has not bypassed us either. There were windfalls, and we cleared over 450 thousand cubic meters of wood. Today, we continue to work on clearing windfalls, with active work underway in the Lepel and Orsha forestry enterprises. We will cope with the task set by the government – to clear all accessible logging areas affected by bad weather by November 7. We will reach the hard-to-access logging areas later, when the ground freezes.
Yury Lipsky also congratulated colleagues and veterans on the upcoming holiday, wishing everyone peace, kindness, well-being, a positive mood, confidence in the future, professional and personal success.
On this day, more than 60 foresters of the Vitebsk region received well-deserved awards. Heads of services with which forestry closely cooperates also came to congratulate them on the holiday: trade unions, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and others.