VITEBSK, 3 July (BelTA) - Independence Day on 3 July is the date which Belarus has gained at the price of incredible sacrifices in the Great Patriotic War, Chairman of the Vitebsk Oblast executive Committee Alexander Kosinets said at an Independence Day meeting. About 4 million people were tortured to death by the Nazis, killed on the frontline. Belarus did everything possible and impossible to stop the invaders on the road to Moscow. “This is why independence, sovereignty and freedom are not mere symbols for us. This is history and the future,” Alexander Kosinets said. Hundreds of times the Belarusian land was burned down, was partitioned by the powerful neighbors. Yet every time the Belarusians rose to their feet and walked down the road of life. It was on Vitebsk land that Polotsk principality became the prologue of Belarusian statehood. Only in the 20th century there was created was the Byelorussian SSR with the apparatus of public administration, public education, culture, and all this created a serious basis for the construction and development of the state. Today a new page has been opened in the history of our state; the history that we are writing together, making everything possible to construct a strong and prosperous Belarus, Alexander Kosinets said. Vitebsk has been contributing a lot to Belarus’ sovereignty and independence. Thus, in January-May this year the oblast’s industrial output made up 160% to the same period in 2010. Nearly 95% of local companies increased the production. The region sells into more than 100 countries. Import substitution remains among major goals for local producers. The potential of development laboratories, universities and fundamental science make it possible for replacing much in the intermediate and consumer import. Vitebsk Oblast should follow a path of innovation development using every benefit from its geopolitical location. Due to its strong economic potential, Vitebsk Oblast does not curtail any social programs included into the new five-year period plan, the governor said. The construction of school, kindergartens, and healthcare facilities is in full swing. All this is made to improve the living standards of the people. Alexander Kosinets congratulated Vitebsk Oblast residents on Independence Day which is a symbol of both unity and cohesion of the society.

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