Environmental protection will remain among the top-priority avenues of EU-Belarus cooperation, Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus Andrea Wiktorin said at a press briefing dedicated to the launch of the new paper manufacture in Borisov on 21 November. The large-scale EU-financed project “Supporting the transition to a green economy in Belarus” is nearing completion. It is carried out by the UNDP in cooperation with Belarus’ Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry.
“We are now discussing the priorities of further cooperation with Belarus. I believe that we will keep working together in environmental protection, especially in the fight against climate change,” Andrea Wiktorin said. In her opinion, the project carried out in Belarus was a success. Andrea Wiktorin is glad that the partner ministries have been actively promoting innovative development. “We support model projects and initiatives which can be launched in other Belarusian regions. The projects combining environmental and economic components are aimed at changing consumer habits,” Andrea Wiktorin clarified.
She liked many of the 23 initiatives implemented in Belarus, especially the one to set up a farm to breed grouse. The pilot initiative to launch the production of office paper from waste at the paper mill of the Department of State Signs of Belarus’ Finance Ministry in Borisov also makes part of the project “Supporting the transition to a green economy in Belarus”. The EU’s funds were used to fit the manufacturing facility (built in 2016) with additional components and mechanisms to create a full-fledged waste paper recycling line. As much as €860,000 was earmarked for cutting-edge Italian-made equipment. The whole project is estimated at €5 million. Over the last two years, the EU allocated €12 million for Belarus’ transition to a green economy.
